The Giver
by anemoia.a
Summary: Anakin had pretty much adjusted to life at the Jedi temple. He went to class, he trained with his master, and he had begun to have strange dreams. An old friend would meet him in his dreams, and offer advice and guidance. He was trying to figure out where everything went wrong as he watched Anakin grow into a Jedi Knight. The answer he needed was in the past.
1. Anakin & Obi-Wan I

Anakin opened his eyes with a start, and saw nothing. The space was empty, a black room that seemed to go on forever. He looked down to inspect his body and saw that he was still in his sleeping clothes, and without shoes. His bare feet were submerged in cool water, and small ripples pulsed away from his ankles. Anakin looked around, trying to see if he could find anyone in this place. As he kept turning in place, he began to worry when he noticed that there was no one else around. Anakin reached out in the force to see if there were any other lifeforms present- but there were none. Panic started to set in as Anakin continued to spin around in place.

He cried out for his Master, who would have probably scolded him for getting lost, or losing control of his emotions, but he didn't really care at the moment. His breathing grew heavier and more frantic with each second as he realized he might be trapped here. Then he stopped moving.

A muffled voice was speaking. It was calling his name. It echoed around the empty room, and Anakin couldn't figure out where it was coming from. He looked ahead, his eyes bright with fear and took a step forward. Then another. And another. Something was compelling him to move forward. The tone of the voice changed. It sounded like it was encouraging him to continue forward. Like as if it wanted him to find something, or someone.

As he began to move faster, his feet splashed against the water on the floor, causing the ripples to spread out for as far as he could see in all directions. He looked down at them, and saw his own distorted reflection staring back at him- rumpled sleep clothes and all. Anakin continued to move forward and then he saw it.

A person stood ahead of him, their face and figure obscured by a cloak. They wore jedi robes, but the robes were worn, like as if this person had seen years of action. The voice seemed to be radiating out of them in all directions. Surrounding the space that they were in, and calling his name. Anakin slowed down, his feet splashing against the cool water and causing his pants to get wet as he changed his pace. He slowly approached the figure, trying to sense them in the force. The presence was calm, bright, but sad.

"Hello?" He called out to the figure. They turned to face him; their face still covered by their hood. The water had gotten the end of the robes wet, and they pooled around the bottom of the figure, rippling just like the water that surrounded them. The light beige robes stood out in the dark room, making it look like as if the figure was glowing.

"Who are you?" Anakin asked. "Where are we?" He said with more urgency.

"Everywhere, and nowhere." The voice responded. With each word they uttered it echoed and reverberated around the whole space. It sounded like as if the figure was speaking from all directions, even though they were facing Anakin.

"That doesn't make any sense." Anakin said while crossing his arms. The voice laughed at him, but the figure didn't move at all.

"It will in time." They said.

"What's your name?" Anakin asked. The figure stayed silent, and Anakin looked down with a start. The ripples that he was making had stopped. The figure's robes stopped moving with the water as well. They both stood still, and Anakin held his breath in anticipation.

"I am an old friend." The voice said.

"Then why don't I know you?" Anakin said. "I've never seen you before in my life." He said while pouting.

The voice chuckled, and Anakin uncrossed his arms. Their laugh was warm, and sounded so familiar, yet he couldn't place where he had heard it before. It felt like he was listening to an old friend, but he knew that he had never met this person before. No jedi that he could think of at the temple wore robes that looked like this person. No jedi that he could think of felt like this in the force.

"You will, in time." The voice said.

"What does that even mean?" Anakin exclaimed, exasperated by their lack of answers that made sense to him."

The voice was silent, and extended a hand out towards him. Anakin took a step back with a start when he noticed that the hand was a silver prosthetic, reaching out to him from beneath their robes. He looked back up at the hood of the figure, trying to see if he could see something, anything about their face, or who they were.

"I don't understand." He whispered, worry filling his voice. The figure continued to reach out, the metal fingers uncurling slowly. Anakin looked back down at the hand, his heartbeat filling his ears as he slowly placed his hand inside the metal one. It was cold.

"Anakin?" Master Kenobi's voice called from nearby. "Padawan!" It said with more urgency. Anakin gasped and sat up with a start- he was back in his bedroom and sunlight was streaming through the window. He looked down at his hands, and noticed that the right one felt cold. The next thing that he noticed was that he was covered in sweat, like as if he had just completed a rigorous training course. His hands shook as he brought them up to his face, and he ran them through his hair.

"Yes, Master?" Anakin said while answering the com

"Where are you? You were supposed to meet me for saber practice." Master Kenobi replied, sounding mildly annoyed over the line.

"Coming, Master!" Anakin said while throwing his covers off of him and jumping out of bed. His legs shook slightly when he landed on his feet, and a pang of worry shot through his heart.

_It was just a dream._ He told himself as he got ready for the day.


	2. Anakin & Obi-Wan II

**Authors Note:** Thank you all for reading! I really appreciate it. If you haven't already, please check out my other work, Remnant, which takes place during the clone wars. Thank you for reading.

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Anakin quickly walked down the corridors, weaving in and out of jedi masters that were moving at a slower pace. He pulled the other sleeve of his cloak over his arm while turning for the elevator.

"Come on, come on." He muttered under his breath as he pressed the up button. There was a soft ding and the doors opened. Anakin rushed inside and began to press the button to get to the floor that the training rooms were on. _They couldn't close fast enough. _Anakin thought as the elevator began to move.

"Sorry I'm late, Master." Anakin said as he rushed in the room, and tried to control his breathing so it didn't seem like he ran here at the last second. Obi-Wan turned around to face him, a disapproving look on his face, but humor in his eyes.

He sighed. "Anakin, I know you mean well, but maybe you should consider setting an alarm?"

Anakin sighed and looked down at his boots "I know, Master, it's just that…" he trailed off. He wasn't sure if he should tell Obi-Wan about the dream that he had. He might be chastised for not being able to let go of his home, and his mom. There was also the possibility that he would have him talk to Master Yoda about this. And as much as Anakin thought that being the head of the Jedi Council would be cool, he didn't really like talking to Master Yoda that much.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him, watching as Anakin took more interest in his shoes than continuing the conversation.

"Just what?" Obi-Wan questioned. Anakin looked up, making brief eye contact before looking to his side.

"It's nothing, Master." He said.

His master sighed, know that pressing Anakin was probably not the wisest idea. He had been asking his peers about how he should get Anakin to trust him more, and the thing he kept hearing was 'not to rush him' and 'let him come to you' so, that's what he decided that he was going to do. He grabbed his saber from his belt, ignited it and set it on training mode. Anakin pulled out his lightsaber and did the same.

"Alright, padawan, today we'll be working on your defensive skills." Obi-Wan said while getting into his usually form III stance. He knew that Anakin had begun to have a preference for form V, but he wanted his apprentice to be able to handle himself in any situation, and not let his enemy get the better of him.

Anakin followed suit, getting into a defensive position. His master rushed forward, swinging his blade downward. Anakin blocked and rolled to the side. As they fought, his mind kept lingering back towards the dream he had earlier. He couldn't shake the image of that person standing there, wearing light clothes surrounded by a room of emptiness.

His master's blade smacked against his arm and he jumped back in surprise. Anakin hadn't really been paying any attention to his training, and sighed.

"Pay attention, padawan." Obi-Wan said in a stern voice. Anakin took a deep breath.

"Yes, Master." Anakin said while exhaling. He raised his blade, ready to try again.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan exclaimed as his apprentice flew backwards and hit the ground hard. That was the third time that he was able to land a hit on him with much more ease than usual. Although Anakin was still young, he was a gifted swordsman, surpassing many of his peers already.

Anakin groaned and rolled over. He knew he should have been paying more attention, but he also wasn't expecting his master to hit him with such a hard blow. He winced as he got up, his right arm wrapped around his side.

"Anakin, are you alright?" His master asked him as he quickly walked over.

"Yes." He responded while trying to stand up straight. His side was sore- but it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle.

"Padawan." Obi-Wan said while placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "I know that there is something on your mind. You've been distracted for this entire training session."

Anakin flinched slightly and looked down. "I know, I know, it's just that…" he trailed off, not wanting to tell Master Kenobi about his dream, and get him all worked up.

"Just what?" He asked again.

"It's nothing." Anakin said while shrugging.

Obi-Wan backed up and crossed his arms over his chest. "You have class soon. We'll talk about this once you're done with your coursework for the day."

"Yes Master." Anakin said.

"And please be on time, Anakin." Obi-Wan said

"Yes Master" Anakin said while rolling his eyes and making his way back to the elevator.

While he took the elevator to the level his classes were on, other padawans around his age began to join him in the elevator. They were all chatting with each other, but none of them talked to him. None of them really even looked at him. Some did, but they quickly averted their eyes one he noticed that someone was staring at him again. Anakin sighed_. 'Is there something wrong with me?' _He wondered as they all stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway towards their classrooms.

Anakin sat in the back of the room, blocking out the lecture on galactic history and instead using the time to think about the figure in the room. He closed his eyes, and saw them standing before him, the ends of his robes floating on top and rippling with the water.

A hearty laugh echoed around the room. "Shouldn't you be paying attention?" The figured asked. Anakin quickly opened his eyes and sat straight up, a blush creeping across his face. He looked around, and it seemed like no one had noticed that anything was wrong. Anakin's shoulders slumped back down, and he tried his best to remain calm and quiet. Judging by the pitch of the laugh and the voice, he guessed that the voice was a male, and probably a human. The accent that he spoke with also felt very familiar. It didn't sound anything like the Coruscanti accents he had been hearing all around ever since he left Tatooine.

As Anakin continued to think about who this person was, he hardly noticed that his class was over. Quickly packing up his data pad, Anakin began to make his way to the library. The man from his dreams looked like a jedi, which means that he should be able to find his records in the libraries data base.


	3. Anakin & Obi-Wan III

Anakin walked through the halls of the Jedi Temple, watching as masters and knights passed by him in shades of brown and beige. The temple hummed with content as everyone went about their daily activities. No one really paid any attention to Anakin as he made his way though a sea of brown cloaks towards the temple library. He walked in, the light of the holocrons and sun streamed down onto the floor in patches of blue and gold. As much as his master stressed the importance and prestige of the library _"It's the largest collection of knowledge in the galaxy.," Records from thousands of years are held here_." Anakin honestly didn't see what the big deal was. He hadn't even heard of a library until coming to the Jedi temple, and it wasn't like he grew up in a place where people had access to things like data holocrons, or had access to anything, really. But it was starting to come in handy now. He paused, and looked at the statues of jedi masters. Their faces were intricately carved into stone, but then Anakin realized that he had no idea what this person's face looked like. All he knew is that one of his hands was a prosthetic. He frowned- how was he supposed to get more information about the jedi if he didn't even know his name or what he looked like?

"Do you need any help?" A woman's voice asked from behind him. Anakin turned around and saw Master Nu staring down at him, a small smile on her face.

"Uh…" Anakin began. She laughed at him. "Looking at the statues I see? Is there anyone in particular that you are looking for?"

"Well…" Anakin began, his eyes looking downward at his shoes.

"Well?" She questioned. "Look up when you talk, padawan…" She said

"Skywalker." Anakin responded.

"Padawan Skywalker." She muttered to herself while nodding. "You're Obi-Wan's padawan, are you not?" She asked him.

"I am." He said while looking up at her.

"So tell me about this Jedi, Padawan Skywalker."

"I don't know his name, or what his face looks like." He mumbled.

"Oh? Is that so?" Master Nu said resting a hand on her chin. "What do you know about this Jedi?" She inquired.

"Well… one of his hands is a prosthetic." Anakin replied.

"Hmmmm, I can't think of any Jedi at the moment who would have a prosthetic hand."

"Oh." Anakin said softly and looked back down.

"But that doesn't mean we can't look!" She told him, and placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him over to a series of tables full of monitors.

"The Jedi temple has the largest collection of data in the entire galaxy," She began. "If you're searching for knowledge, you have come to the right place. Now, what else do you know about this Jedi?" She asked him.

"Well, He's a human, I'm pretty sure. Male, his robes looked very old." Anakin responded, trying to recall the figure from his dreams. "And his robes were light."

"What do you mean by 'light'?" Master Nu asked Anakin.

"Well," He began "Most jedi wear brown robes, and have brown cloaks. His robes were grey, but a light shade of grey. And his cloak was grey too."

"Are you sure he is a Jedi?" Master Nu asked Anakin sternly "And how did you come across this person?" She added on in a more urgent tone.

"He had a lightsaber on his belt." Anakin responded, "And I saw him… in a dream" He added on softly.

"In a dream?" She repeated. "Have you told Master Yoda about this?" She asked him.

"No," Anakin replied softly.

"Have you told your master about this?"

"No" Anakin whispered.

"Well, young Skywalker," Master Nu said. "Might I suggest that you speak to your master about this… Jedi?"

Anakin sighed- he didn't want to bother Master Kenobi with anything at the moment. Anakin felt like his very presence was a burden to his master. He tried his best to do the right thing, but he kept messing up and he could feel his master's annoyance through the force, he could hear his master's thoughts sometimes as well, despite his master trying his best to hid them from him.

"I-"Anakin began, "It's not that big of an issue." He said.

Master Nu sighed. She had felt the boy's mood change in the force when she mentioned his master. While she knew it wasn't her place, she could sense that work needed to be done in regards to their relationship.

"Regardless, feel free to use the resources here as you please." She said to him with a reassuring smile. Anakin nodded at her, and she got up to leave, ready to comm Obi-Wan and tell him about his interesting padawan.


	4. Anakin & Obi-Wan IV

Anakin's eyes lazily looked over profiles of numerous jedi in the library. He had lost count at around 100, but he didn't see any faces that seemed familiar- not that he even knew what this jedi even looked like. He was going off of a hunch that he had, and that hunch was telling him that none of these other jedi were the one that he was looking for. In the background, he could hear snickering, and looked up to see where the noise was coming form. To his left were several senior padawans, pointing and trying to hide their laughter while looking at him. He narrowed his eyes, trying to listen to what they were saying.

"Isn't that the slave boy?" One human girl asked.

"Do you think he even knows how to use that thing?" A Torgruta male teased. Anakin felt his face begin to heat up, and anger pool in his stomach. He did know how to use a computer_\- thank you for asking, and he wasn't a slave. He was a person. _

"Oh, watch out guys! He's looking at us now." The female padawan said in a mocking tone. Normally, Anakin would go up to their face and demand they take their words back, but he knew that if he confronted senior padawans in the library, he would never hear the end of it from his master. Anakin curled his hands into fists, trying to control his rage at the other jedi. Jedi were supposed to be kind and compassionate, fight for the greater good- not tease each other. A shattering noise started Anakin out of his train of thought, he turned back to face the monitor screen, only to realize that there were now several large cracks running through it. The senior padawans were quiet, staring at their own screen with a mix of awe and horror.

His master was really going to kill him.

"How did the screen crack?" One whispered urgently

"I…. I don't know! I didn't do anything, I swear!" Another one said.

"It looks like they all cracked…" A human male said while looking down the row of monitors. His eyes landed on Anakin.

"Do you think…" He began

"No." The human girl said quickly "Absolutely not." She quipped. Although, through the force, Anakin could tell that she was lying. He could tell that she was afraid.

Anakin looked down at his lap, and tried to stop the tears from forming in his eyes. _Jedi don't cry._ He told himself. Not wanting to make anything worse, Anakin quietly got up, pushed his chair in, and walked away from the scene.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Master Nu asked Anakin as he walked past her. He nodded.

"That's good!" She said and turned away from him. He heard her distant cry of alarm, and could hear her questioning the senior padawans about the monitors, but their voices faded into nothing as he walked back out into the halls of the temple.

Not sure where to head next, Anakin just walked along the hallways, his mind and body wandering. With a start, he realized that he was in the temple's gardens. He could see other jedi using the force to encourage the plants to grow, younglings running around and playing in the grass. He felt a pang of jealousy- they would never have to know what it was like to not have enough food to eat, not enough water to drink, or the constant fear that they would be sold. His thoughts then turned to his mother, who would give up her portions for him, always made sure he had enough to drink, and Anakin wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, and tell her how much he loved her. But his voice was stuck in his throat and his tears were stuck in his eyes, so he just kept staring at the reflection of the younglings in the pond, when suddenly…

"Ow!" Anakin yelled as he was knocked over

"Sorry!" A high-pitched voice that was on top of him said. Anakin looked down at his lap and saw a small torgruta girl in his lap, her bright blue eyes looking up at Anakin. Her presence in the force felt… light and happy. He smiled slightly back, her happiness spreading to him as well.

"It's alright." He said while picking her up and moving her off of his lap.

"I'm Ahsoka Tano!" The girl exclaimed. Anakin was taken aback; usually jedi spoke in such soft and hushed tones, that he thought that the younglings would as well. Apparently not.

"Anakin Skywalker." He responded.

"Made a new friend, have we?" Master Yoda said from behind the two of them, startling them both. Anakin jumped and turned around and Ahsoka did the same.

"Yes!" Ahsoka said triumphantly. Yoda looked over at Anakin, humor in his eyes.

"Um, yeah." He said, hoping that Master Yoda hadn't found out about the monitors in the library, blame him for it, and then kick him out of the order. Ahsoka seemed to have no idea of Anakin's change in mood, because she grabbed onto his tunic and declared "This is my friend!"

Master Yoda laughed. "With the other younglings, shouldn't you be?" He questioned. Ahsoka turned away while frowning. Anakin could sense her anger in the force, and wondered why a child raised here would feel that way.

"They're mean." She replied in a small voice. Anakin sighed internally. He felt bad for her, and had no idea why people who prized peace as much as the jedi were supposed to, let padawans and younglings bully each other like this.

"Hmmmm, talk to them, have you tried?" He asked her. Anakin tried not to laugh. _Like that's ever worked before. _

"No…" Ahsoka muttered while looking down at her feet. She looked back up at Master Yoda who looked at her, his face and thoughts hard to read in the force. She huffed, before stomping away towards the other younglings. Anakin watcher her go, feeling sorry for her.

"Sit, young Skywalker." Master Yoda said, as he sat down on the soft grass. Anakin sat down and marveled at how lush and beautiful the garden was. He didn't even know that the ground could be this soft, and still support your weight.

"Told me about this dream you had, Master Nu did" He began. Anakin felt his body tense- Master Yoda was the last person he wanted knowing about his personal stuff. He was such an enigma; Anakin had no idea what to make of half of the stuff that came out of his mouth.

"Uh…" Anakin said. Master Yoda laughed.

"Tricky, Dreams can be. Unusual, but not uncommon it is, for them to tell us things." He told Anakin. "But beware you must be, to not be led astray be them." He added on in a more serious tone.

"A Jedi with a mechanical hand, heard of, I have not." Master Yoda said while looking Anakin straight in the eye. His intense stare made Anakin squirm.

"Neither have I." Anakin muttered. "I don't know who he is." The jedi master was quiet, looking at Anakin with a strange look in his eyes. "I asked him. He didn't say anything that told me anything about him." _Other than being just as confusing as Master Yoda._

"Interesting, that is" Master Yoda said as the two of them watched the fish swim around in a pond. "Go, you may, young Skywalker." Master Yoda said after a long pause. He looked up at Anakin.

Anakin got up and began to walk away. As he walked back towards the halls of the temple, he could hear Master Yoda speaking.

"Strange ways, the force works in."


	5. Anakin & Obi-Wan V

Anakin walked away from Master Yoda, leaving him to stare at the ripples in the pond alone. He walked through the Jedi gardens towards the exit in a daze. He couldn't believe that not even Master Yoda knew the jedi that he was talking about, and Master Yoda was the head of the jedi council. A small smile formed on his lips- maybe he had found out about something that no one else knew about! He could just picture the look on his master's face when he realized that he had discovered something that no one else knew about. The pride that Master Kenobi would feel in having Anakin be his student. He was so busy thinking about the possibilities that could happen that he didn't even notice where he had wandered off to.

"Anakin," Master Kenobi's voice called. Anakin jumped and looked around. He was back in one of the main hallways, and ahead of him was his master.

"Lost in your thoughts again, my young padawan?" He asked as he walked towards Anakin. Anakin felt his face turn red in embarrassment that he hadn't been more attentive to his surroundings.

"Yes, master." Anakin said while looking down. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Master Kenobi staring at him, his eyes unreadable. But through the force, Anakin could feel his master's worry for him… although Anakin wasn't entirely sure why his master was worried. He couldn't think of anything that he had done that would make his master worry about him.

"Anakin," Master Kenobi said softly. "If… if there's anything on your mind that you want to talk to me about…" he stopped and looked over Anakin's head.

"Master Yoda," Master Kenobi said while letting go of his shoulder. Anakin quickly turned around and saw the old master standing in front of them, a small smile on his face.

"Tell your master, did you, about your new friend?" Master Yoda asked while turning his head to the right slightly.

"Um…" Anakin said and looked down at the floor again.

"A new friend?" He heard his master say from behind him, his worry being replaced with excitement. "No, Anakin hasn't mentioned anything to me about a friend."

"Well… she's not exactly my friend…" Anakin said while crossing his arms.

"Yes, I am!" A toddler's voice yelled. Anakin looked back up and saw the same youngling, Ahsoka from earlier, now standing next to Master Yoda. He could hear his own master trying to hide his laughter from behind him.

"How did you even get here?" Anakin asked her.

"I walked, silly!" She said while laughing.

"Silly!" Anakin repeated incredulously. This little girl was calling him silly?

"Wanted to say goodbye, she did, to her new friend." Master Yoda explained.

"Well, Anakin, don't be rude." Master Kenobi said from behind him.

"Yeah! Don't be rude!" The little girl shouted. Anakin rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Goodbye, Ahsoka." He said.

"Go back to the other younglings, you should." Master Yoda said while pointing with his cane to the entrance to the garden.

"Yes, Master." Ahsoka replied and began to walk away. Master Yoda watched her go, and once she was reunited with the rest of the younglings, he turned back to face Anakin and Master Kenobi.

"Well, Anakin, that is some friend you made." Master Kenobi said while stroking his beard.

"Indeed." Master Yoda said. Anakin felt his emotions shift in the force, and felt the concern, the curiosity that was running through his mind.

"Told your master, have you, about your dream, young Skywalker?" Master Yoda said as he turned back around to face the two of them.

"What dream, Anakin?" Master Kenobi asked Anakin. He could also feel his own master's presence in the force change. The anxiety and concern were back.

"I dreamed about a Jedi." Anakin replied slowly. "He had a prosthetic right arm."

"Oh?" Master Kenobi said as he walked over to Master Yoda. "How do you know he was a Jedi?"

"Well," Anakin responded. "He was wearing Jedi robes, and had a lightsaber attached to his belt."

"Did he tell you his name?" Master Kenobi asked him.

"No." Anakin said. "He said he was a friend of mine. An old friend." Anakin felt his master's concern in the force grow, and wanted to tell him not to worry, that everything was fine. Anakin couldn't sense anything bad about this person.

"An old friend?" Master Kenobi repeated while stroking his beard and looking at Master Yoda.

"Recognize this Jedi, you do not." Master Yoda said. "Know this jedi, you do not."

"The force works in mysterious ways, Anakin." Master Kenobi said. "But you must be careful. The darkside will cloud your vision if you let it."

"I won't. I promise." Anakin responded, asserting himself. He wouldn't follow the same path that lead to the death of Master Jinn. He refused.

"Strong, you will is." Master Yoda said. "But strong enough, that I am not sure."

"It is." Anakin said while looking Master Yoda in the eye. "Nothing bad will happen because of this." Anakin responded with a strange sense of confidence It almost felt like someone else was speaking.

"And how do you know that, my young padawan?" His master asked him.

"It's a feeling. I just know it." Anakin said. He remembered how the jedi felt in the force. The lightside of the force seemed to flow off him. He remembered the laugh, and the way he felt when he was around him. No harsh looks or comments. The jedi just looked at him like as if he was a person.

"Discuss this later, you two should." Master Yoda said while looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Yes Master." They both said in unison while bowing. Master Yoda nodded his head and began to walk away.

"Are you hungry?" Master Kenobi asked.


	6. Anakin & Obi-Wan VI

Anakin followed his master down the long hallway, lost in thought. Between the encounter with the youngling in the gardens, the library, and his most recent run-in with Master Yoda, he had a lot to think about. He suddenly stopped walking when he realized that his master had stopped, and he was a second away from crashing into his back.

"What would you like to eat, Anakin?" Master Kenobi asked him while looking down at him. Anakin shrugged. He still had a lot of trouble with trying to rationalize having that much food in one location. The first time he had been inside of one of the temple's dining halls, his jaw dropped. He had never seen that much food before in his life. Now that he had been here for two years, the sight still shocked him less, but he still thought of his friends and his mother back home, who were still struggling to put food on the table.

"You can pick, master." Anakin said. He really didn't have a preference for anything, as long as he had eaten something, he was happy.

"Alright then." Master Kenobi said as he walked over to pick up a tray. Anakin followed him, his thoughts still lingering on the events from earlier in the day. As he walked over to stand in one of the lines, he heard snickering behind him. Anakin frowned. He didn't want to assume anything, but he had a bad feeling about this. He looked back up at his master, who seemed to be occupied with which fruit he was going to select from today's options. Anakin turned his head slightly, trying to decipher what they were saying.

"…did you hear about the library?" A voice whispered. Anakin felt his blood rush to his face. He wasn't even sure what happened in there, and yet he's still being blamed.

"I did." Another voice said. He couldn't figure out what else that person had said, but he did manage to pick up the word 'freaky'. Anakin clenched his teeth- he was not a freak. He was a padawan, just like the other padawans. He sighed.

"Anakin, are you going to make a selection?" Master Kenobi asked him. Anakin nodded and moved over to look at the fruit, not really caring about eating anymore. As he narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out which fruit he was going to grab he heard it.

"nothing but a slave to his emotions." A slave. _A slave._ Anakin slammed his tray down on the counter, spun around and ran. He could hear his master calling out for him, demanding to know where he was going, but Anakin didn't care. He ran through the halls of the temple, hot tears streaming down his face.

_Jedi don't cry. _

Anakin ran into the nearest elevator and pressed the button for the floor with his living quarters. Now that he was alone, he tried to take in calming breaths, and be the jedi he was meant to be. But all he could hear was that word. _Slave._ All he could feel was the worthlessness that came along with belonging to someone else. The doors opened and Anakin quickly ran out of the doors, heading straight for his room. He knew that his master would be following him, and he would demand an explanation for his actions, but Anakin didn't even know where to begin with what he was feeling. On the one hand, he was grateful that he wasn't being beaten anymore, but on the other hand, the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint Master Kenobi.

The door opened to his and his master's quarters. The lights were off, and it was quiet. Anakin could see the silhouette of the plants that Master Jinn had kept over the years in the common room. He walked past them, refusing to think about his masters any further. Anakin walked into his room and laid down on his bed. Grabbing his pillow, he held it against his chest, and cried. Cried because no matter how hard he tried; someone found a flaw. Cried because none of the other padawans wanted to be friends with him- or even talk to him. Cried because he missed his mother and his friends back home. Anakin closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

When he opened them, he was back in the same place from his last dream.

"Hello?" Anakin called out, wondering if the jedi would come back to talk to him.

"Anakin" A voice said behind him. Anakin turned around and saw the jedi from last time. He looked the same; the light flowing robes, the warm presence in the force.

"Master Yoda doesn't believe that you're a jedi. He has never heard of you before." Anakin said, crossing his arms. The jedi laughed.

"Master Yoda? I am very familiar with him. He is the one who trained me." Anakin's draw dropped. How did Master Yoda not even recognize his own apprentice?

"Time isn't as linear as you think." The jedi said. "Look down." Anakin looked down and watched the water ripple around his legs and spread out throughout the rest of the space.

"Just like the water, time flows and changes. But it doesn't all happen in one direction at one time."

"I don't understand." Anakin said

"You will, in time." The jedi responded. "Now, how was your day?" Anakin was shocked by that question. How was his day? How was he supposed to answer that?

"It was… alright." Anakin said while shrugging. The jedi was quiet.

"You're lying." He whispered. Anakin flinched. "I can feel your anger through the force. Try again."

"Well… I met a youngling today. Her name was Ahsoka." Anakin replied while smiling softly.

"What was she like?"

"Loud. Energetic. She kinda followed me around." The jedi laughed.

"That's cute."

"No, it's not!" Anakin replied, a blush forming across his face.

"Yes, it is." He responded. Anakin huffed. "It makes me think about what it would have been like… what it would have been like if I had been taken from a young age and raised in the temple." The jedi tilted his head.

"And you would prefer that over your home world?" He asked Anakin.

"I'd prefer anywhere over my home world." Anakin muttered. "Tatooine is filled with bantha podoo." The jedi laughed.

"You know, Tatooine is also my home world." He replied. Anakin's face lit up.

"Really? I've never met anyone else from Tatooine before, never mind a jedi."

"Well, let me show you what it was like where I grew up." The jedi said. The water began move more intensely, and it began to form waves that grew larger and larger. Anakin stood rooted to the spot, afraid to move, when suddenly the ground beneath his feet gave out.

Anakin swore as he fell through the ground and landed on the rocky soil of Tatooine. He took in his surroundings and saw several moisture collectors, a speeder, and a domed building.

"A moisture farm?" Anakin exclaimed. "You grew up on a moisture farm?"

"That's right." The jedi said as he turned to face the binary sunset. Anakin laughed- he could hardly believe that someone who was this powerful in the force grew up… somewhere like this. Somewhere like he did.

"When I was your age," the jedi began. "I didn't like it here either. But now that I am older, and have had more time to reflect on everything, this place grew on me." Anakin laughed.

"I don't think this place could ever grow on me."

"Don't be so sure of that." The jedi responded. He pointed out towards the horizon. "There isn't any other sunset like that in the whole galaxy."


	7. Anakin & Obi-Wan VII

Anakin woke up to someone knocking on a door. He opened his eyes and saw the early morning sunlight streaming in through his window. He quickly got out of bed and went to open the door. In front of him stood his master, fully dressed and ready for the day, despite the fact that it was still relatively early.

"Master" Anakin greeted while rubbing his eyes.

"Anakin." Master Kenobi replied. "I have been summoned by the council for a meeting. But before I leave, I want to talk to you." He continued and walked past Anakin into his room.

"Sit down, Anakin." Master Kenobi said. Anakin quietly sat back down on his bed, knowing he was about to reprimanded for his behavior last night.

"Why were you laughing last night?" Master Kenobi asked him. Anakin furrowed his brow. He didn't expect this to be the thing that his master was going to ask him about.

"What?" Anakin said, confused about what his master was talking about.

"Later last night, after you had gone to bed. I came by to check on you. I could hear you laughing. It sounded like you were having a conversation." Master Kenobi said quietly, stroking his beard with his hand.

"Um." Anakin responded and looked away. He had been talking to the jedi from earlier, but he didn't know that Master Kenobi could hear him speak! He thought he had just been asleep and that was that. How was he going to explain himself?

"I was… dreaming?" Anakin responded, unsure if his master would believe him.

"Right." Master Kenobi said, his face expressionless. "Dreaming. And what about your behavior in the mess hall yesterday?" Anakin flinched. He knew that he shouldn't expect to be beaten for messing up, but he couldn't help it. He had been beaten before for acting out of line, and he couldn't shake the feeling of fear that accompanied being reprimanded by anyone, but especially his own master.

"I'm sorry about how I acted yesterday." Anakin muttered, trying to control his emotions in the force. He heard Master Kenobi sigh, and looked up to see his master looking out of his bedroom window.

"Anakin. You know acting out of anger is not the jedi way."

"Yes, master"

"And so, I should not need to tell you about it again."

"Yes, master."

"And you know that your behavior last night was unacceptable."

"Yes, master" Anakin repeated, his voice hollow. Master Kenobi looked down at his padawan and saw while he was sitting here in front of him, his eyes were very far away.

"Anakin." He said, trying to snap his padawan out of… what ever was going on.

"Anakin!" He repeated, louder. Anakin's head snapped up; his eyes wide as he looked at Master Kenobi.

"I'm sorry master, I was just…thinking." Anakin said, as his shoulders deflated, and he looked away. Master Kenobi opened his mouth to respond, but then his commlink beeped.

"We will talk about this later, padawan." Master Kenobi said, and then walked away. Once the door shut, Anakin let out a deep breath and laid back down on his bed. How was he supposed to explain all of this?

Later that day, Anakin sat with the other padawans during a training exercise. He was trying to pay attention, but he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened this morning. He looked up and saw his master there, along with several members of the council and the chancellor. Anakin frowned; why was the chancellor here? Didn't he have more important things to do? Anakin looked back towards the front of the room, where a knight was instructing them on saber combat. Anakin, however, was far more interested in watching the ongoing simulation than he was in whatever the knight was saying.

"Skywalker, you're up first." The knight said. Anakin nodded and stood up, unsure of how to proceed, but decided he would try to let the force guide him. He stood ready as a droid began its simulation, and advanced towards him. He could hear the other padawans talking about him, but he knew he had to focus. He didn't want to embarrass himself, or his master.

Anakin ignited his blade and easily blocked each attack coming from the droid. He could hear the whispers of the other padawans fall silent as he continued to block each advance, looking for a way to attack the droid, when he heard the same voice from yesterday.

"He's a slave to his emotions." A girl's voice sneered. Anakin's vision turned red, and rage coursed through his body. He turned around to face the padawan that said that and looked her in the eyes. She had a small smile on her face, like as if she knew she had won something. From behind, he could hear the droid approaching with its next attack. He didn't care. Anakin clenched his fights as tight as he could, his nails digging into his palms and drawing blood. The padawan's faces turned from humor to shock as they watched as the droid was lifted off the ground, and then began to fold in on itself. Anakin didn't move. He kept staring at the girl, his breathing and anger heavy in the force.

"Anakin!" He heard his master call out to him. He jumped down from the balcony and landed next him. Anakin released his fists, and the destroyed droid dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

"Master, I-"Anakin began, hoping that he didn't just make everything even worse.

"Later, Anakin." Master Kenobi said while holding up his hand. The knight that was running the training session looked at Anakin with a shocked expression on his face.

"Well… that was quite impressive, Padawan Skywalker." Anakin tried to smile but couldn't find it in him to.

"Thank you." He replied, his voice shaking, his body still full of adrenaline. Anakin looked up at the chancellor and the jedi council members. He could see the chancellor point at him and say something to Master Windu, who frowned and shook his head. Anakin looked back down at Master Kenobi, who was also watching the exchange, but then looked back at his padawan. Anakin couldn't read his expression, but he didn't think that was a good thing.

At least he wasn't being beaten anymore.


	8. Anakin & Obi-Wan VIII

hope you guys are ready for a time skip! We'll be skipping 7 years (so we'll jump to attack of the clones) after I finish Anakin's first story arc before we continue

* * *

"You wanted to see me, chancellor?" Anakin said as he walked into the chancellor's office.

"Yes, Anakin, it is so good to see you!" The old man said as he smiled from behind his desk. Anakin smiled and his hands in his sleeves. It was a nervous habit that Master Kenobi had been trying to get him to break for about a year now, but he just couldn't seem to shake it.

"I saw you demonstrating your skill earlier today, with the other padawans." He said, his eyes raking over the boy's small frame "I must say that I am quite impressed with how skilled you already seem to be at such a young age."

Anakin felt his face heat up at the compliment, not entirely sure how to respond.

"Thank you, chancellor." He said as he bowed his head slightly.

"Tell me my boy," The chancellor said as he got up and stared out of the window behind him. "Do you enjoy your life here? On Coruscant? I imagine that it must be quite the change for you."

"Yes, your excellency" Anakin said. "It is everything I ever dreamed of, and more." He continued, his voice hollow. Palpatine smiled.

"Oh? You don't sound so sure of that." He egged him on.

"Well… it's just that." Anakin began, trying to find the words to articulate his emotions. "Things are so different here, on Coruscant, with the jedi. It's a lot to take in." He said quickly.

"I'm sure of it." The chancellor responded. "But you seemed to have adjusted remarkably well, despite such a sudden change in your environment." The chancellor said. Anakin walked forward and stood next to the chancellor.

"Everything is so different here. I didn't expect Coruscant to be so cold." Anakin whispered, watching the speeders fly.

The chancellor laughed. "Cold? Well I suppose if I had also come from a planet that was as hot as yours, I would find Coruscant cold as well." He turned to face Anakin.

"Tell me, Anakin, does the council ever let you explore the rest of the city?"

"No, why?" Anakin said while turning to face the chancellor.

"Well, what do you think the rest of the planet is like? Surely you don't think everything is as nice as the temple or the senate buildings, do you?" He questioned. He watched the boy shift his weight between his feet, trying to keep his composure.

"Well, no, but I thought that since this was the inner core, and the capital of the republic, that things would be…" He trailed off.

"Different? Better?" The chancellor supplied him with answers. Anakin nodded.

"Oh, well I can assure you that it is different my boy." He chuckled. "In fact, I can show you later this evening, if your master will allow it."

Anakin's eyes lit up "Really?" He exclaimed and then stopped himself. "I would be honored, chancellor." Anakin said, in a more reserved tone. The chancellor smiled "Of course, I shall see you later this evening. Now I expect that you have schoolwork that you will need to finish between now and then, so it would be best if you went and finished that now. We wouldn't want you to fall behind on your studies." He said with a smile.

"Thank you, Chancellor Palpatine." Anakin said again and bowing. He turned to walk away, and Palpatine watched him go. Once the door to his office slid shut, his smile melted off his face and his eyes changed to a sickly yellow.

"I think it's strange that the chancellor seems to have taken such an interest in young Skywalker." Master Windu said as he walked down the hallways with Obi-Wan. "Something about this is not right."

"I agree." Obi-Wan responded "But I am not sure how to intervene, or if I even should. Anakin can learn things from the chancellor that I cannot teach him, and it will be valuable for him to have made a friend in such a powerful position within the senate.

"This may be true," Mace Windu replied "But I still don't like it. Why would the chancellor invite a boy out to an evening event?"

"I am not sure, but I am happy for Anakin." Obi-Wan said as he approached the door to his shared quarters with Anakin. "I expect that he will be back within the next hour or so, and I will be sure to wait for him. Goodnight, Master Windu."

"Goodnight." Master Windu responded.

"What's on that woman's neck?" Anakin asked. The chancellor turned around, his hood blocking his vision. Even though most of his face was covered, he could see the old man frown.

"It's a collar. She's a slave." The chancellor whispered. Anakin felt his blood grow cold. _A slave? Here in the heart of the republic?_

"A slave?" Anakin whispered. "I thought slavery was outlawed here!"

"It is." The chancellor said as they watched the woman walk by, several hooded figures following her.

"I like to come down here periodically, Anakin to remind myself about how fortunate we are to live on the upper levels." The chancellor said softly. "While I realize that I am in a position that allows for me to have immense power, I am not powerful enough to stop slavery on my own, and right the wrongs of the galaxy on my own. That is why we have the senate."

"Well, they don't seem to be doing a very good job." Anakin muttered. Palpatine laughed.

"The senators are subject to greed, just like the rest of us. Tell me Anakin." The chancellor paused.

"What do you think a slave on Coruscant would be doing? Who would she be serving?" Anakin looked up at the chancellor, looking for hint to an answer.

"I… I don't know." He admitted.

"Well, then I will tell you. She is enslaved to a senator, who is in league with the Hutt Clan. He does what he wants in the senate, and they will provide him with whatever he wants in return."

"That's horrible. How do you fight such corruption?" Anakin asked.

"You can't. Not without getting rid of our current system at least. But that is not the reason for why I brought you down here, Anakin. There is something else that I want you to know."

"And what is that, Chancellor Palpatine?" Anakin asked, watching the figures on the streets pass them by without a second thought.

"What do you think the people down here lack the most? What resource do you think they can never get?" He asked Anakin. Anakin frowned. He knew what it was like to have nothing. To go to bed hungry, to run out of water. What could people, here in the inner core, lack?

"I will tell you my boy." The chancellor said after a moment of silence. "Sky."

"What?" Anakin asked, while looking up. But he could see what the chancellor meant. He couldn't see the sky.

"Some people here don't even believe that the sky exists. They've never seen it. Everyone down here wants to make it to the upper levels, even if its just one time, so that they can feel the sun on their skin."

Anakin frowned. How could something as the sun be something people fought over to have? How could such things occur when the jedi and the senate were here?

"I know what you're thinking." Palpatine said as he looked down at Anakin. "I once thought the same way. But change is hard, and it will take a long, long time before issues like this are resolved."

"How was your evening, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked as he heard the front door open.

"It was fine." Anakin muttered as he walked by.

"I saved you a cup of tea." Master Kenobi said as he watched the boy go down the hallway. He paused.

"I'm not thirsty." He sighed. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Anakin said and walked into his room without another word. Obi-Wan frowned. He could feel through his bond with Anakin that he was upset about something, but Obi-Wan didn't want to approach him about it. Not with how he seemed to just shut down last time.

He would let it go, for now.


	9. Anakin & Obi-Wan IX

**I realized that I should probably name the chapters of this story based off of their respective story arcs. Also here are the answers to questions people have been asking me about this story:**  
**In the first story arc, Anakin is 13 and Obi-Wan is 29. Ahsoka is 8. **  
**As for the jedi that is speaking to Anakin... you'll have to keep reading to find out who he is.**

* * *

"I can sense that you are troubled." The jedi said. Anakin turned around and saw him standing there, his metallic and flesh hands clasped together.

"How did you know that you wanted to be a jedi?" Anakin asked, trying to see the jedi's face.

"I wanted to help people. Save the galaxy." The jedi responded. There was a pause before he continued. "Just like how my father did." He whispered.

"Wow," Anakin responded. "He must have been a good jedi if he made you want to become one as well."

"He was the best." The jedi responded. "But becoming a jedi was not an easy task."

Anakin rolled his eyes; he had heard that pretty much everyday of his life ever since coming to the temple.

"I was impatient, I was angry, I wanted revenge for what had been done." The jedi said. The water lapping at Anakin's feet began to ripple, creating small waves. In their reflection he could see someone with a red saber cutting down jedi left and right. As the water continued to change, so did the scenes. He saw destroyed buildings, raging fires, and piles and plies of dead bodies.

"What is this. What are you doing?" Anakin yelled, horrified at what he was seeing. He could hear people's cries of pain and he covered his ears. They were too much, he could feel their pain, their desperation, and he wanted it to stop. But he didn't know how.

"Stop it!" Anakin screamed, squeezing his eyes shut. Suddenly, it was quiet. The water was calm again. Anakin slowly uncovered his ears and looked up. The jedi was still there, his robes rippling silently, floating on the water.

"Is… is that what happened to you?" Anakin whispered. "Where are the other jedi?"

"I was the last one." The jedi responded. "Everyone else had been killed. I wanted revenge for what had been done, and in that process, I began to lose sight of who I was."

"But everyone died! Of course you wanted revenge!" Anakin responded, shocked at how well this master seemed to be handling himself.

"You're right, Anakin." He responded. "Those emotions are natural, and they are what makes us human. But I cannot allow for them to interfere with my actions. I did once, and it cost me." He held up his mechanical hand for Anakin to see. Anakin's jaw dropped.

"Revenge is the easy path, but that doesn't make it right." The jedi continued. "You cannot lose sight of who you are." Anakin sighed and crossed his arms. He knew the jedi was right, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought that maybe being a jedi wasn't for him.

"Did you have to fight the sith? Did you win?" Anakin asked.

"Yes. But it wasn't the grand duel that I think you are expecting." Anakin frowned.

"There was a duel, but I won not because I was the best fighter, but because I waited. I listened to the force. I did not let the dark side get the better of me." The jedi said. He paused before he continued.

"I know what you're thinking. You're wondering if being a jedi is the right path for you. And it might not be. But you'll never know until you try." The jedi continued.

"But Master Yoda said 'do or do not. There is no try.'" Anakin countered.

"I know. But Master Yoda isn't right about everything." Anakin grinned. He wasn't sure who this jedi was, but he liked him. He frowned again.

"But the jedi aren't helping people! I saw a slave tonight, here on Coruscant!" Anakin exclaimed, his anger starting to get the better of him.

"The jedi are helping people. But they cannot help everyone all at once." He replied softly. "Despite what the politicians say, slavery is wrong in all forms."

"I know." Anakin muttered. "That's why I want to set them free."

"And you will, I am sure of it." The Jedi said again.

Anakin woke up to see the early morning sunlight creeping in through his window. He sat up, thinking about what he had seen last night with the chancellor, and later with the jedi. He opened his data pad and saw that while he didn't have any classes today, he did have studying he wanted to do, and he was supposed to spar with Master Kenobi later this afternoon. It was still early enough though, that he could finish what he wanted to do before he had to meet with Master Kenobi at 1500 hours. He got out of bed and got dressed, mulling over what he heard last night.

_"I wanted to help people. Save the galaxy."_

_"The people down here, do not even believe in the sky. It is always dark."_

"_Revenge is the easy path, but that doesn't make it right."_

Anakin clipped his saber to his belt and walked out of his room. The common area was quiet. He usually woke up before his Master did, so he wasn't surprised. That is until he entered the kitchen.

"Language, young one." Master Kenobi said, in response to his padawan's outburst.

"Sorry Master, it's just that you're usually not up this early." Anakin muttered, taking a seat the small table.

"The Council has requested for my presence at a meeting." Obi-Wan said.

"You're leaving again?" Anakin asked while pouting. He heard Obi-Wan sigh.

"We don't know that yet. And if I do, Master Yoda will be watching you, so behave, Anakin." Obi-Wan said while pouring hot water into a cup.

"Yes, master." Anakin muttered. Obi-Wan looked at Anakin and frowned. He knew that teaching Anakin to listen to directions was important, but he couldn't help but wonder if sometimes he was to strict with him. Anakin excelled at any task that was given to him, and Obi-Wan often found himself wondering if he was being a good master. He thought about what it was like when he was Anakin's age, and how Qui-Gon had treated him. He didn't excel in everything- he struggled quite a lot. And now that he was the master, he was finding it hard to relate to someone who had everything come so easily to them. Obi-Wan sighed; Anakin was even better at cooking than he was, and his padawan was only 12 years old. He checked the time.

"Anakin, I will see you this afternoon for our sparing session." He said as he placed his cup in the sink.

"Yes, master."

"Bring the boy with you, you will." Yoda said while pointing at Obi-Wan.

"But Anakin is not- "

"Ready, he is." Yoda cut him off. "Excels in his studies, he does. Very clever, he is."

"Why do you not think your padawan is ready, Obi-Wan?" Mace Windu asked.

"He is reckless, and impatient. Some teachings do not sit well with him. I do not think he is prepared for a mission."

"Hmmm," Yoda said. "Think that you do, because he is not prepared, or because doubt your skills as a master, you do?" Obi-Wan opened and closed his mouth, deciding that it might be better to remain silent.

"Young Skywalker is very powerful." Mace Windu said. "It is important that he learns how to control his power."

"Agree, I do. Train him well, you must. If a bad jedi, Skywalker becomes, a danger to himself and others he will be."

"Not everything can be taught here in the temple." Plo-Koon said. "Perhaps it is best if you do bring him along. It will be a good experience for both of you."

"Settled it is then," Yoda remarked.

"You and Padawan Skywalker will travel to Carnelion IV and respond to this distress call." Mace Windu said.

"Yes, Masters." Obi-Wan said while bowing, and then turning to head for the door. "

Really?" Anakin exclaimed as Obi-Wan told him the news. "Yes, really. We leave tomorrow morning." Obi-Wan said as he watched his padawan's face light up.

"Now, lest make sure that you are ready for the task, padawan." Obi-Wan said as he ignited his saber. Anakin did the same and got ready to block an attack from his master as he rushed forward. Obi-Wan pressed harder against his apprentice and was pleased to find that Anakin was holding his ground. He could see the sweat starting to form on his forehead, and the determination in his eyes. Obi-Wan was pleased with how far Anakin had progressed during his time here at the temple. He was a better duelist than many of his peers, and Anakin was quickly picking up his own fighting style. He noticed however, that his fighting style had begun to change recently. Before, Anakin would try to rush his opponent- and not always to the best outcome. But as they were dueling today, Obi-Wan noticed that his apprentice was watching him closely. Waiting for him to make the first move.

"Good, Anakin." Obi-Wan said as he blocked an attack. He saw Anakin smile slightly, and then suddenly his blade was swinging down towards his right side. Not anticipating the move, he reflexively leapt into the air and force pushed Anakin away. Anakin went flying across the room and slammed into the wall.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted. He watched as Anakin slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Obi-Wan cursed under his breath- he knew Anakin was improving, but his counterattack was not fair. He rushed over and helped him up.

"Oh force," Obi-Wan muttered, gripping Anakin's arm tighter when he swayed slightly. "Anakin, you're bleeding." Obi-Wan said as he wiped the blood away from his face. His nose was bleeding and Obi-Wan winced, remembering what he had been told earlier in the council chambers.

_"Train him well, you must. If a bad jedi, Skywalker becomes, a danger to himself and others he will be." _

Well, he was certainly doing a good job with that.

"I'm okay." Anakin said, his voice muffled by his sleeve as he tried to stop the blood flow.

"Come on, we're going to the healers." Obi-Wan said as he placed an arm around Anakin's shoulder and guided him out.


	10. Anakin and Obi-Wan X

**This chapter takes place right after the Anakin and Obi-Wan comics. I didn't want to just recite canon here, so if you haven't read the comics don't worry! Important plot points/quotes will be referenced in flashbacks. Also; this is the last chapter for the first story arc! The next one will be focusing on Anakin and Ahsoka.**

* * *

Obi-Wan sank back into the pilot's seat and sighed. What was originally supposed to be a regular mission- inspect old jedi artifacts and bring them back to the temple on Coruscant turned out to be nothing short of a hot mess. He and Anakin had landed in the middle of a civil war on the planet, and the people didn't even know what the jedi were. He placed his head in his hands. His first mission with his padawan would certainly be one to remember. Between Anakin getting kidnapped, finding a valley full of noxious fumes, and having to negotiate a peace treaty with the people of the planet, Obi-Wan was ready to go home.

"Are we ready to leave, Master?" Anakin asked as he walked into the cockpit. Obi-Wan turned around and looked at his apprentice. A week ago, he was strongly considering leaving the order, and Obi-Wan would have gone with him. He understood that Anakin wasn't like the other padawans, but he was still far too young to be out on his own. Obi-Wan swore to watch over and train him. In the beginning, he had been reluctant. He knew he was not prepared to take on the responsibility of training a padawan, never mind someone as skilled, but as unpredictable as Anakin.

"Yes, come sit." Obi-Wan said, gesturing to the co-piolets seat next to him. Anakin sat down and turned to look at him, a small smile on his face.

"Do you think I could try flying, just a little?" Anakin asked softly. Obi-Wan smiled, remembering that he had told Anakin he could try flying the ship later, but he didn't think he remembered.

_The boy, is he your son? _Obi-Wan still found that question to be odd. Jedi didn't have parents the way other children did. They were raised in the temple together. When he explained that Anakin was his student, the first reaction many gave him was that Anakin was quite young to be so skilled. And quite troubled.

"Later, Anakin." Obi-Wan said. "I will be performing the liftoff procedure, but after that, we shall see." He watched as Anakin grinned at him and felt himself smiling in return. Sometimes he thought he was too harsh on the boy, other times not harsh enough. But when he gave Anakin his lightsaber back and asked him about his future, he beamed with pride at his response.

_"As a jedi, if you'll show me the way."_ No, Anakin was not like the other padawans. But that didn't mean that was a bad thing.

"Do you think Ahsoka will want to hear about our mission?" Anakin asked while resting his chin in his palm.

"Ahsoka?" Obi-Wan asked, hopeful that Anakin had made a new friend.

"The youngling from the other day." Anakin replied. "I keep running into her, and Master Plo had asked me to watch her for a little bit before we left."

"Did he really?" Obi-Wan said, amused. Anakin was a shy child, and he was surprised that he was being so open with someone that he had recently met.

"She's very…. talkative." Anakin said while smiling slightly.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow "And is that a bad thing?" He said as he steered the yoke towards the stars.

"Well, no." Anakin said while looking away.

"And why didn't you tell me that you had run into her again, or that Master Plo had asked you to watch her?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin shrugged

"I dunno." He said while fidgeting in his seat. He caught himself and stopped, clenching his fist in his lap.

"Master Plo said she liked me, and that we were friends." Anakin muttered.

"And are you two friends?" Obi-Wan asked, a smile forming on his face. Anakin shrugged again.

"She's a youngling. And Master Plo didn't like the fact that I swore in front of her."

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. He opened his mouth to lecture Anakin on having proper etiquette, but the navigational computer beeped at him.

"We're jumping to hyperspace now." Obi-Wan said.

"Ahsoka thought it was funny." Anakin muttered as he sank lower into his seat. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you go rest for now. I will wake you later, and we will talk about this." He looked at Anakin.

"And you'll get to fly the ship for a little bit." Anakin leapt out of his seat.

"Really?" He exclaimed.

"Really. But only if you're well rested so you can be attentive!" Obi-Wan said. Anakin nodded and walked away, towards the sleeping quarters of the ship. Obi-Wan watched him go and sighed.

"And then, she took me!" Anakin added onto his story. He was back in the same place he found himself most nights. The black room where the water came up to his ankles, and the same jedi was there, waiting for him each night.

"She took you?" The jedi repeated. "Why do you sound excited about that?"

"Well, I wasn't, to be honest. But then Master Kenobi came! And I fixed an old droid that was laying around, so we were able to escape!" Anakin said.

"How did the droid help you?" The jedi asked.

"Well, he caused a distraction, which gave Master Kenobi a chance to cut the handcuffs."

"You were handcuffed?" The jedi asked. "Aren't you a little young for such a dangerous mission?"

"No." Anakin responded. "I was thinking about what Master Kenobi told me."

"And what did he tell you, Anakin?"

"That as a jedi, you are able to accomplish more, and do more because you are part of a group, instead of an individual." Anakin recited. "And that's why I wasn't afraid. But what about you?" Anakin asked.

"I have already answered that question. I am a jedi, just like you." He responded.

"But you are more than that. You're a person, you must have a name." Anakin responded. The jedi was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"I am here to give you knowledge, and advice." The jedi said slowly. Anakin frowned.

"That's not a name." He replied. The jedi shrugged. "You're here to give me knowledge and advice?"

"That is correct."

"Then… then I guess I will call you Giver." Anakin muttered and then nodded, pleased at his decision.

"That is acceptable." The Giver responded. There was a pause before he continued to speak.

"Your Master is right, Anakin. Not only does a jedi's strength come from the force, but it comes from our compassion for life. Life is precious and should not be taken for granted. Do remember what I showed you that one night?" The Giver asked.

"Yes." Anakin muttered, not sure if he could ever forget seeing something like that.

"That is what happens, when people do not value life. The needless slaughter. Millions died, because of other people's selfishness." Anakin frowned and looked down at the water. His own reflection looked back at him, distorted by the ripples in the water.

"Are all lives precious?" Anakin asked. The Giver chuckled.

"That depends on your point of view." He responded. "But as jedi," He added on. "Our job is to save as many lives as possible. We are keepers of the peace. Sometimes, achieving peace will require sacrifices. But from what you told me about your mission, it seems as though you have experienced that firsthand."

"I have." Anakin responded, looking back up at the jedi- now named Giver. He wanted to be able to see his face, and judge his reactions, but there was no face for him to see- it was covered by the hood of his cloak.

"Then has your question been answered?"

"It has."

"Anakin, wake up." Obi-Wan said as he shook his shoulder. Anakin slowly opened his eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them, before quickly sitting up.

"For someone who was that excited about flying the ship, I'm surprised you slept that long. You must have been tired." Obi-Wan said with a slight smile. Anakin shrugged. He was still trying to process what he had heard. Obi-Wan frowned.

"Are you feeling alright, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked while placing a hand on his shoulder. He nodded.

"I'm okay. Can I fly the ship now?" Anakin asked while looking up at him.

"Be careful, young one." Obi-Wan warned as Anakin got up and made his way towards the cockpit. Obi-Wan stoop behind him, ready to assist in any way necessary, but it was not needed. Just like with most other skills, Anakin picked up flying with ease, and was a better pilot than most padawans, and several knights already. Obi-Wan smiled and shook his head as he listened to Anakin talk to him about the model and make of the navigational computer that the ship had.


	11. Anakin & Ahsoka I

"Ahsoka!" Anakin called as he walked through the temple gardens. "Ahsoka!" He shouted again. He ducked under several tree branches, searching for where she could have run off to.

"How does she even move that quickly?" Anakin muttered to himself as he pushed another branch out of his way. He heard muffled giggling in the distance and stopped walking.

"Ahsoka?" He called out again. There was a moment of silence before he heard some more poorly stifled giggles. Anakin stood up straight and places his hands on his hips.

"Hmmmmm, I wonder where Ahsoka could be…" Anakin pondered out loud, making sure to take note of the bush to his right that was rustling.

"I guess that's too bad! I even had some snacks I snuck from the dining halls to share with her. Oh Well!" Anakin said pointedly and began to walk away. Sure enough, he heard footsteps behind him, and turned around right as Ahsoka leapt upward.

"What the- "Anakin exclaimed as they fell to the ground. "Ahsoka!" He shouted indignantly. "Get off of me!"

"You said you had snacks!" She replied.

"And you weren't supposed to run off!" Anakin retorted. Ahsoka pouted and he rolled his eyes- he swore that Master Plo just made him watch Ahsoka so that he didn't have to put up with her antics. Anakin sighed and heard more muffled giggles coming from above him. He looked up and saw Master Plo and Master Kenobi standing over him. Anakin rolled his eyes.

Or they were getting a kick out of all of this.

"Now little 'Soka." Master Plo began "You know that you weren't supposed to do that." Ahsoka frowned, and got off Anakin, who rolled over and got up quickly. He watched as she looked down at the ground and frowned. Ahsoka was still young- not even 10 standard years old yet. When he was her age, he hated being scolded by anyone- never mind being scolded by a jedi.

"It's alright Master Plo," Anakin interjected. "We were… just playing!" He added on quickly.

"Just playing?" Master Kenobi said while raising one eyebrow

"Yes." Anakin said while standing up straight. "Isn't that right Ahsoka?" He said while nudging her.

"Right. Yeah. Just playing." She said as she faced Master Plo and Master Kenobi.

"And what game were you two playing?" Master Kenobi said while crossing his arms.

"Uh…." Anakin trailed off and looked down at Ahsoka, who looked back up at him. Usually he didn't like hanging out with younglings- in fact, he hated it most of the time. But Ahsoka was so active, that she constantly kept him on his toes. And he enjoyed chasing her around the temple gardens, even if he didn't want to admit it.

"The game where…. Ahsoka pounces on me from a nearby bush." Anakin said quickly. He heard Ahsoka giggle from beside him.

"Is that so?" Master Plo asked the two of them.

"Yeah!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "Anakin is easy to hunt."

"Hey!" Anakin replied. Here he was trying to cover her back, and she had the audacity to say that.

"That's only because I let you find me." He continued while rolling his eyes.

"Sure, Skyguy." Ahsoka grinned.

"Don't call me that!"

"Well, we'll just leave you two alone then." Master Kenobi said. He shared a look with Master Plo and the two of them walked off to another part of the garden.

"You owe me for that, Snips." Anakin muttered.

"I know, I know." Ahsoka said while rolling her eyes. "Don't you have homework or something that you should be doing?" Ahsoka asked.

"No, why?" Anakin replied.

"Well, I see the other padawans working together. But you're never with them. How do you do your assignments?"

"I do them by myself." Anakin replied softly.

"By yourself?" Ahsoka exclaimed. "But they're hard!" Anakin shrugged.

"They're not that hard." He replied. He looked back at Ahsoka and saw her usual 'can-you-please-help-me-with-this-one-assignment-and-if-you-don't-I'll-tell-Master-Plo' look. Anakin rolled his eyes.

"Fine, what is it?" He asked her.

"Yes!" Ahsoka exclaimed while jumping into the air. "I'm really bad at speaking Huttese. Do you think you can help me?" Anakin hesitated. He hadn't actually spoken Huttese since he left Tatooine, which was over 3 years ago now. He wasn't sure how much he still remembered.

"I can try." Anakin muttered. Ahsoka grinned at him.

"Stay right here. I'm gonna go get my data pad. Don't move Skyguy!" She said while running off. Anakin sat down in the grass and huffed.

"Well, at least this will be interesting." He muttered to himself.

"I never thought I would see the day where Anakin gets along with a youngling as well as he gets along with Ahsoka." Obi-Wan said as he stroked his beard. "He usually never helps others with their studies."

"A shame that is." Master Yoda said while watching the interaction unfold from a few meters away. "Has perfect marks at the moment, Padawan Skywalker does. A great teacher he will make someday. Proud of him you should be, Obi-Wan."

"I agree." Master Plo said "In many ways, Anakin seems wise beyond his years. It is very impressive."

"Thank you, masters." Obi-Wan replied. He was proud of Anakin. He watched as Anakin made more progress than any of his peers. Everything came naturally to him. Where other padawans struggled, he saw it as a challenge. His determination was always there, but the focus, was something that came with age, and like all other things, Anakin began to master.

He was proud of Anakin. But he did not know how to tell him. Obi-Wan watched as Ahsoka ran back towards Anakin, her data pad clutched to her chest. She plopped down next to him and began to point at something on the screens. Obi-Wan watched as Anakin walked her through the pronunciation of several common phrases in Huttese. He could tell each time she got one right because she would beam at him. He could feel in the force, Ahsoka's delight with her progress, and Anakin's delight at being able to help her.

"Yes," He muttered to himself. "He would be a fantastic teacher one day."


	12. Special Guests

"It seems as though this youngling is very fond of you, Anakin." The Giver said as he clasped his hands together in front of him. "Perhaps one day she will become your padawan."

"Maybe." He replied. "I never really thought about having a padawan until now. But it seems like…" He trailed off. He knew about how much of a burden he was for Master Kenobi. How he only took him in because Qui-Gon asked him to. How often he was frustrated and even angry with Anakin. He tried to blink back the tears- it wasn't like he didn't try. He tried so hard, to be good, to do well, but he always fell short in some way. He was too outspoken. He was too rash. He was too impatient.

"What's wrong?" The Giver asked. Anakin looked at him.

"What if I'm not a good enough jedi? How will I be able to train my own padawan when I can't seem to be a decent padawan myself?" He whispered, his voice hoarse. The water that lapped against his feet began to ripple slightly and tremble with his emotions. The agitations reflecting his own emotions.

"You will be. I am sure of it." He replied. "Obi-Wan is proud of you. I can see it in his face." Anakin frowned.

"How do you know that? You've never seen Master Kenobi before, have you?" Anakin asked. "I only ever see you here, not anywhere in the temple, and I can't find you in the archives."

"The force works in mysterious ways. But I assure you that my path has crossed with his before and it will again." The Giver responded. Anakin's face lit up.

"Do you think I could bring my master here?" He asked tentatively. The water stopped moving, the ripples frozen in time as The Giver considered the question.

"Maybe one day. But not now. You would overexert yourself trying to bring him here." He replied, his voice soft but stern.

"But, I- "Anakin began, but The Giver held up his prosthetic hand. "Later, Anakin. Besides, there is someone that I would like for you to see. He has been asking about you."

"Really? Who?" Anakin asked, eager to meet another jedi.

"Hello, Anakin." Qui-Gon Jinn's voice said from behind him. Anakin whipped around, his padawan braid hitting his neck and his eyes went wide.

"Master," He whispered in shock. Qui-Gon smiled.

"Look at how much you have grown. And I see you were able to make your own lightsaber as well." Qui-Gon said while spotting the hilt of Anakin's weapon on his waist.

"Master, I- How are you here?" Anakin asked incredulously. "Do you two know each other?" Qui-Gon looked at The Giver and smiled.

"We have been friends for some time." He replied. The Giver nodded, his hood dropping slightly. But Anakin still could not see any of his face.

"But you died, on Naboo!" Anakin exclaimed. "How are you here now?"

"The force works in mysterious ways, young one." Anakin rolled his eyes.

"You two keep telling me that, but what does that mean? Are you dead as well?" Anakin said while turning to face The Giver.

"Not exactly," He said after a brief pause. Anakin frowned. "Time, Anakin, isn't what you think it is. Here, we are between worlds. What happens in your day to day life doesn't always apply here."

"What do you mean by that? Is that why I never see you except for in my dreams?" Anakin questioned.

"You can also reach us by meditating. You just have to ask for us to be with you, and we will." Qui-Gon added on.

"Can Master Kenobi come here as well?" Anakin asked again tentatively. Qui-Gon frowned.

"That is not a wise idea, Anakin. You are not ready- "

"I can do it." Anakin interrupted. "I can do it." He repeated softly. "Master," He said while turning to face Qui-Gon, "Master Obi-Wan would love to see you. And get to talk to you again. He misses you."

"I know," Qui-Gon said softly. "I know."

* * *

Obi-Wan frowned. Usually Anakin hated sitting still and meditating. He especially disliked meditating when he was around because 'you nag me so much master, I couldn't possible concentrate on reaching out to the force'. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes- while it had been funny in the moment, he knew that he needed to teach Anakin self-control and restraint. Although, he had to admit that his padawan had been making great progress and was even beginning to display abilities that only senior padawans were capable of. He stroked his beard, watching as Anakin walked ahead of him back to their apartment. Anakin never asked to meditate, never mind meditate with Obi-Wan. But he supposed that there was a first time for everything.

He reached out into their bond and could feel Anakin's excitement. His frown deepened- Anakin was excited to meditate. He had half a mind to check his padawan's temperature and ask him if he was feeling alright if this behavior continued. Not that it wasn't welcome. But it was so… unlike Anakin. Who was always on the move. Always working on some new project. Always reading some new holobook. Never still, even in his sleep.

"Hurry up, Master!" Anakin called out while turning slightly. Obi-Wan quickened his pace. He was eager to see what exactly his padawan had instore for him this time. He opened the door to their apartment and walked towards the small living area, where two meditation pads sat in the center of the room. Anakin sat on the one towards the right and looked up at Obi-Wan before patting the one to his left.

"Sit down!" he said while patting the cushion. Obi-Wan chuckled and sat down, folding his legs together in the same position that Anakin had.

"You know padawan, if you keep this behavior up, I might take you to see a healer just to make sure that you're alright." Obi-Wan said with a small smile. But frowned when he felt a wave of anxiety come off his apprentice.

"I'm alright, Master. Promise." Anakin said. But Obi-Wan caught the change of tone in his voice.

It sounded like he was trying to convince himself if anything.

"Ready to get started?" Anakin asked with a smirk. Obi-Wan nodded and closed his eyes.

"Be with me." He heard Anakin whisper. Obi-Wan frowned. Had Master Yoda taught him a new meditation technique?

"Be with me." Anakin said again, louder this time. Obi-Wan gasped in shock as he suddenly noticed that he was soaking wet… and sitting in a shallow body of water. He got up quickly and saw Anakin standing next to him, looking straight ahead.

"Anakin, where are we?" Obi-Wan asked while looking around.

"I'm not sure." Anakin muttered. "Its like… a world between worlds." He said.

"And what, exactly does that mean?" Obi-Wan retorted while putting his hands on his hips.

"That this is a world between worlds." Qui-Gon Jinn said from behind them. The pair quickly turned around and saw their master, standing in front of them. His eyes were stern, and he had a slight frown on his face.

"Master." Obi-Wan whispered, his eyes going wide. Qui-Gon smiled.

"Padawan," Qui-Gon responded. "It is good to see you again." He looked at Anakin.

"I told you not to bring him here, Anakin." Qui-Gon said, his voice stern. Anakin frowned and his shoulders slumped.

"I know." He whispered. "But I wanted him to see you."

"Where are we? How is this possible? Master, I saw you die, I _felt _it." Obi-Wan said, his voice cracking, a single tear slowly made its way down his face. The water ripped around them, the waves hit Anakin's boots and he looked down, staring at his own distorted reflection. He could feel Obi-Wan's pain in the force. It was as raw as it was when Qui-Gon had died, and he stood by the funeral pyre, staring straight into the fire. He knew then, that Obi-Wan was trying to put on a brave face for him. His mother had done the same thing. And Anakin knew that he was trying to do it now as well.

But it wasn't working.

"We don't have much time, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon explained. "Anakin will not be able to keep this up for much longer."

"Keep what up?" Obi-Wan asked while looking down at his padawan. But Anakin was looking behind him, watching carefully for something…

"He will not be coming, Anakin." Qui-Gon said. "The time is not right yet."

"But he said that he knew Obi-Wan!" Anakin exclaimed, turning back to face Qui-Gon "Why wouldn't he come and- "

"There is a time and place for everything, young one. For now, you must return to your own world." Qui-Gon said to Anakin.

"We will speak of this later. Go." Qui-Gon said and raised his hand. Obi-Wan felt the force push them back, and he landed on his back hard enough to have the wind knocked out of his chest. Obi-Wan took a deep breath in and opened his eyes and saw that he was back in their apartment. His robes were dry. And his padawan was sitting next to him, his eyes still closed. Obi-Wan watched as Anakin slowly opened his eyes and stared straight ahead, trying to mask his emotions. The anger. The guilt. The sorrow.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan whispered, reaching out to place a hand on his padawan's shoulder. Anakin leapt up at the contact and took a step towards his room when he collapsed and fell to the ground.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted as he leapt up to catch the boy. He grabbed him and pulled him closer, examining his apprentice. Anakin's head lolled as Obi-Wan tilted it towards himself, checking his breathing, temperature, and pulse. He debated calling the healers, but he wasn't sure what he would tell them, and if they would believe him anyway. Anakin's vitals were fine as far as he could tell- and Qui-Gon had mentioned something about Anakin's stamina. Obi-Wan sighed. He wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come now. He wanted to shake Anakin until he woke up and demand an explanation for what he just saw, but he knew that would not accomplish anything. He had to get Anakin to talk to him on his own terms. He carefully stood up with Anakin in his arms and walked towards his bedroom. Laying his apprentice carefully on the bed, Obi-Wan looked around Anakin's room and rolled his eyes. His desk was stacked with droid parts, tools, and whatever books he needed for his assignments. Anakin's curiosity about the galaxy was something that made him stand apart from other padawans, and it was something that he tried his best to encourage. He looked back at Anakin, who sighed in his sleep. Obi-Wan let go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Reaching out in the force, he confirmed that Anakin was asleep and walked away to grab his commlink and inform Master Plo that Anakin would not be able to help him train the younglings later today. After sending the message, he looked back at Anakin's room, and made a step towards it but stopped. And then kept going.

He opened the door again. Anakin hadn't moved. Obi-Wan walked into his room and sat on the edge of the bed. Thoughts raced through his mind, but he knew that he had to wait until Anakin woke up before proceeding with any plan of action.

_'Maybe I should have actually taken him to a healer when I first thought of it' _He thought to himself while watching his padawan's chest rise and fall.


	13. Conversations

Anakin slowly opened his eyes, groaning at the headache that was pulsing behind them. His room was dark, and he was laying on his bed. The blinds had been closed, and it was quiet. Anakin scrunched his eyes shut- trying to remember how he ended up falling asleep in the middle of the day when it all came rushing back to him.

"Master!" Anakin said while sitting up and gasping. The door to his quarters opened, and Obi-Wan walked in, looking at his apprentice with grave concern.

"Anakin, you need to relax." He said while placing a hand on his shoulder. He could feel his padawan's body shaking underneath his hand. He looked at Anakin's face and saw him blink a few times, trying to focus.

"What do you remember?" Obi-Wan asked gently. Anakin looked at him and shook his head.

"Do you think Master Qui-Gon is mad at me?" He whispered, his voice cracking.

"No, no. I don't think so." Obi-Wan said. "If anything, he probably admires the determination that you demonstrated." Obi-Wan smiled. "He would be proud." He added on softly. Anakin frowned.

"But I disobeyed orders!" Anakin exclaimed. "He told me not to bring you!"

"And I am glad that you brought me, Anakin." Obi-Wan said. "Sometimes, the right decision isn't the easy decision to make." Anakin grinned.

"Something funny, padawan?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin shrugged.

"You sound like the other jedi I met." Anakin mumbled after a moment of silence. He looked down and picked at the threading of his bedsheets.

"The one from your dreams?" Obi-Wan pressed. Anakin nodded. He looked back at Obi-Wan.

"Do you think he's mad at me? Master Qui-Gon said he wouldn't be coming but- "Obi-Wan held up his hand and Anakin stopped talking.

"I am sure, that this other jedi was worried about your well-being, bust as Qui-Gon and I are." Obi-Wan responded gently. Anakin nodded and there was a brief moment of silence between the two of them before he spoke again.

"What time is it?" Anakin asked.

"It is a little after 22:00, why?" Obi-Wan replied. Anakin shot up from his position on the bed. Obi-Wan leapt up behind him and grabbed his shoulders.

"I was supposed to help Master Plo train the younglings!" He exclaimed; his eyes wide. He quickly closed them and winced as his headache got worse with his sudden movements.

"No Anakin, what you need to do is rest." Obi-Wan said as he guided Anakin back down to his bed. "I have already contacted Master Plo and told him that you are not well, and that you will help him out another time." Anakin's shoulders slumped as he sat back down on his bed and sighed.

"I can tell that you're really tired because you aren't even fighting me on this, young one." Obi-Wan said with a small smile. Anakin shrugged.

"I am tired." He admitted. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.

"And I have a headache." He muttered. Obi-Wan rose from Anakin's bed and began to exit the room.

"I'll get you something for that." He said as he walked out. Anakin watched him go, and laid back down against his pillows

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said as he shook his padawan's shoulder. Anakin groaned and opened his eyes slowly.

"Come, sit up." Obi-Wan said. He watched as his apprentice pushed himself up on still shaky limbs and rubbed his eyes. Obi-Wan silently handed him a glass of water and a painkiller. Anakin took them wordlessly and drank most of the water before handing him the cup back.

"Do you usually see Qui-Gon when you… go to that place?" Obi-Wan asked tentatively.

"No." Anakin said softly. "Usually it's just me and that jedi I was telling you about. Today was the second time Master Qui-Gon was there."

"Really?" Obi-Wan asked, surprised. "And so, you usually talk to this other jedi, with the mechanical arm?"

"Yes." Anakin replied softly. "But he said that someone wanted to see me the other day and then Master Qui-Gon appeared." Anakin added on. Obi-Wan stroked his beard, frowning.

"And this place that you took me to, do you know where it is?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin shook his head, but then winced.

"No." He said. "When I'm there, it feels like I'm dreaming. Like I'm between places." He said, watching the light from the speeders and the city seep through the cracks in the blinds that covered the window.

"I see." Obi-Wan said. "And what else can you tell me about this other jedi?" Anakin shrugged, and then covered his mouth as he yawned. Obi-Wan patted his shoulder.

"We can talk about it after you've gotten some more rest." He said and stood up. Anakin nodded and laid back down on his bed, fighting the urge to sleep.

"Master?" Anakin asked, his voice muffled by his pillow. Obi-Wan turned around.

"Yes, Anakin?" He asked.

"Are you proud of me?" He whispered, looking up. Obi-Wan sighed. In many ways, Anakin was far older than the standard thirteen years old that he was. He was a top student, excelling in anything given to him. He had seen more horrors as a slave than most in the galaxy would see in their lifetime. He always put on a brave face, hiding how he truly felt. But now, Obi-Wan saw that despite all of this, Anakin was still a child. A child with unique gifts and abilities, but still a child. A child that had hopes and dreams and fears and worries, just like any other.

"Yes." He said sincerely. "I am proud of you, Anakin. Now get some rest." Obi-Wan said with a soft smile. Anakin smiled back at him, and he saw something change in his padawan's eyes. But before he could figure out what it was, Anakin closed his eyes, and Obi-Wan walked away, thinking about what had happened.

* * *

"Of course, Master Plo. Anakin will be there." Obi-Wan said into his comm as the two ate breakfast together. Anakin grinned into his cup of tea before taking another sip.

"Well, it looks like you will be assisting Master Plo with the youngling's saber training this afternoon." Obi-Wan said. "I hope you've gotten enough rest, padawan. Training younglings can be… interesting." Obi-Wan added on.

"I'm sure it will be fine, master." Anakin replied while grinning.


	14. an incident

Anakin stood behind Master Plo as he introduced the class of younglings to him. He looked around the room- none of the students looked older than nine or ten standard years old. In the front of the room stood a very eager Ahsoka, who caught Anakin's gaze and smiled at him. He smiled back. Seeing her familiar face helped to shake some of his nervousness. At least, if he messed up in front of Ahsoka they could always laugh about it later. And if she teased him too much then he would refuse to help her with her math homework. Anakin looked away from Ahsoka and towards the side of the room. Against one wall stood his master, and next to him stood Master Yoda, who seemed to be deep in thought. Anakin looked back at his master, who nodded his head and gave him a small smile. Anakin returned the smile and then turned again to face the front of the room.

"Split up into your groups." Plo Koon said as he gestured to the room. The younglings shuffled around the room, arranging themselves into rows that faced each other.

"Padawan Skywalker and I will be coming around the room as providing assistance to those who need it." Plo Koon said, gesturing to Anakin, who looked back up at him.

"Worried about young Skywalker, we were." Yoda said as he watched the students divide into rows. "Seemed very sudden, it did. Fine he was, during his morning class with me."

"It was sudden, Master." Obi-Wan said after a moment of silence. "Neither of us were expecting it, never mind Anakin's reaction to when he found out that he had missed the previous training session." They watched as Anakin helped Ahsoka hold a practice saber, her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to get it to balance in her grip. Anakin was trying to help her by showing her how to shift her weight between her feet. They watched as Plo Koon walked over and spoke to the two of them. He took out his own saber and held it in a reverse grip. Ahsoka nodded and tried to hold her own saber the same way. Obi-Wan could tell that she was still off balance, but he watched as Anakin suggested that she change her footing slightly. Ahsoka settled into the new stance, and Obi-Wan smiled.

"Happy to see this, I am." Yoda said as they watched Anakin continue to assist Ahsoka. Obi-Wan looked down,

"Master?" He questioned, while raising an eyebrow.

"Worried we were, that young Skywalker would not be able to accecpt our ways. Too old. Full of fear, he was." Yoda began.

"Appeared to be misguided, we did." He continued. "Worried we were, that too difficult to train, he would be."

"Anakin… can be difficult at times." Obi-Wan admitted. "He is young, curious, and asking questions that I do not always have the answers to."

"The nature of children, that is." Yoda responded. Obi-Wan smiled.

"Anakin is different from his peers." Obi-Wan remarked. "Some of the difficulties that we face are… unusual." Obi-Wan said as he trailed off.

"Unusual, you say?" Master Yoda asked. Obi-Wan stroked his beard before continuing.

"Anakin is far more skilled in the force than his peers." Obi-Wan began. "He has unique gifts, that I do not think even he fully understands how to use." There was a moment of silence before Yoda spoke again.

"Believe he is the chosen one, do you?"

"At first I did not." Obi-Wan admitted. "But as I got to work with Anakin, and he learned more about the force, he began to display abilities that I didn't even know were possible." Obi-Wan said. "But I worry that he will not learn how to control them. How can I teach him things that I do not even understand myself?" Obi-wan asked.

"Both a teacher and a student, a padawan is." Yoda replied. "Learn from each other, you must." He said. Suddenly, a cry ran out through the force and a scream echoed across the room. A crowd of younglings had surrounded a human girl who was on the floor, clutching her arm to her chest.

"Padawan!" Plo Koon exclaimed rushing over to assess the issue. "Help me get her to the medical center."

"Yes, master!" Anakin said as he rushed over. He bent over and helped the girl up, leaning her weight onto his shoulder. Obi-Wan watched as the young girl tried to stem the flow of her tears, but she was too young, and in too much pain to do so effectively.

"Take over the lesson, I will." Yoda said as he stepped forward to the front of the room. Yoda waited for the group of younglings broke up and went back into their original positions, and he began to continue the lesson.

Obi-Wan followed behind Plo Koon and Anakin, taking the weight of the girl- who had now stopped crying- off of Anakin's shoulders. They quickly made their way down towards a lift, and Anakin pressed the button for the floor that had the halls of healing.

The ride down was quiet- the only sounds were the occasional whimper from the girl, and the hum of the lift as it slowly descended towards the halls of healing.

"Training accidents happen, but it would be wise if she exercised a bit more caution next time." Master Che said as she stepped out of the examination room, rubbing her hands together. Anakin let go of a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. He couldn't help but wonder if he would share some of the blame, because he was supposed to be helping to watch the group, and someone had gotten hurt under his watch.

"We're going to keep her overnight, to make sure that the burn doesn't get infected, but she should be fine in a week." Master Che said. The three of them nodded and turned to leave, Anakin following behind the two jedi masters.

* * *

"Master, how do healers use the force?" Anakin asked as they stood on the balcony, watching the sun set behind the skyscrapers of Coruscant.

"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan responded, looking away from the skyline and at Anakin.

"Well, how do they use the force to help people heal?" Anakin asked, looking up at Obi-Wan.

"Well, Anakin," Obi-Wan said while stroking his beard. "Temple healers can use their skills for lots of things. They can put you in a healing trance, make you fall asleep, and help your wounds heal faster." Obi-Wan explained.

"But they can't heal someone's wound?" Anakin clarified.

"Well, no. They can help encourage the person's body, and help it heal faster than it would otherwise. But they can't use the force alone to heal a wound." Obi-Wan replied. He thought about adding on that there was no jedi that could do that- but then again, there were no other jedi that could communicate with the dead either. He was sure that if such an ability existed, Anakin would figure it out.


	15. like water

"Well, it sounds like you had quite the day." The Giver commented as Anakin wrapped up his story. He nodded and looked around. As Anakin continued to meet with the giver, he noticed that each time he came to this place, the surroundings began to change little by little. The water still lapped at his ankles, but now, he saw white lines, connecting to each other all around him. He had meant to ask The Giver what they were for- but not for the first time- the jedi had grown quiet and refused to answer any more questions about the topic. Despite this, Anakin couldn't help his curiosity as he looked around at the different nodes were multiple lines would meet. When he looked, he saw all kinds of things- which usually resulted in him being pulled away when he got too close, like as if he were a young child about to walk into an open flame.

"Is this the reason for why you asked about using the force to heal?" The Giver asked while tilting his head. No matter how the jedi moved, Anakin could never get a glimpse of his face- another thing in this realm that was hidden from him. He promised that he would come and explore this place more on his own, but every time he entered either The Giver was there. He seemed to always be here, but not anywhere else at all.

Anakin nodded eagerly and he chuckled. The force around them felt warm and bright, like as if it was an old friend.

"Can you teach me?" Anakin asked eagerly, his eyes wide at the possibility of learning something new.

"Yes, but it won't be easy." A moment of silence passed before The Giver spoke again.

"Are you up for the challenge?" He questioned Anakin, who nodded again in response.

"Where do we begin?" Anakin asked as he tried to shield some of his excitement in the force. But here, it was harder. The environment seemed to respond around him- the water would ripple and the force around him would change as well. Each time it happened; Anakin would always look down in awe as the force itself seemed to respond to him. He looked back up and saw that The Giver had raised his mechanical hand.

"I will show you." He said as he waived it towards one of the connecting nodes. Anakin stepped forward, and saw water rushing and currents flowing around. He moved closer and reached out to touch it when suddenly, he was standing on wet grass, overlooking a vast ocean that went on for as far as he could see. The breeze around him was soft and gentle, but when he listened closely it sounded as if someone was whispering something to him in a language that had been lost to time.

Anakin gasped. "I've never seen so much… so much water all in once place before." Anakin whispered. The Giver chuckled.

"The force is like the water." The Giver said as he gestured towards the ocean in front of them.

"It flows through all of us, and it's power can be used to create or destroy. But just like the ocean, you cannot hold the force back." Anakin took a deep breath of the salty air and coughed.

"Using the force to heal comes with a price." The Giver continued. "Just like water- the force Is a limited resource. You can only use so much at one time." Anakin frowned.

"What does this have to do with using the force to heal?" He asked as he turned to face the giver. Anakin saw the hood of his cloak shift, and he could feel the eyes of the old jedi on him, even though he could not see him.

"When you use the force to heal, you give a little bit of yourself to heal someone else." The Giver responded. He placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder.

"And there is only so much of you that you can give." He whispered, his voice blending in with the sound of the wind. Anakin looked back out towards the ocean.

"Can you get it back?" He asked. "Your lifeforce I mean. If you heal someone… does that mean that you hurt yourself?"

"As long as you're careful, you should be alright." The Giver replied. "However, I heard that a certain padawan had trouble with being careful." Anakin looked down at the soft green grass as his face heated up with embarrassment.

"I understand." The Giver said softly. "I was just like you when I was your age." He continued. Anakin frowned when he picked up on the sorrow in his voice but decided to stay quiet about it.

"Are you mad at me?" Anakin whispered.

"No." The Giver said softly. "But you must be careful. Your recklessness can get yourself and others…" The Giver trailed off, but Anakin knew what he was going to say. He could feel the tension in the air. They both stared out at the open sea, letting the sound of the crashing waves fill the silence between them.

"I see so much of myself in you, Anakin Skywalker." The Giver whispered, his voice cracking. "And I don't want you to make the same mistakes that I made. Don't kill yourself to save somebody else." Anakin looked back from the seat at The Giver- who continued to stare at the open ocean in front of them.

Slowly, The Giver turned back to face him. "Why did you want to be a jedi?" He whispered, his voice full of sorrow.

"Well, my boy, it is so wonderful to see that you are doing better!" The chancellor said as he placed a reassuring hand on Anakin's shoulder. He nodded.

"Yes. Thank you for your concern, your excellency." Anakin said as he bowed slightly. He looked back up and just for a second, he thought he saw someone else standing in front of him instead of the chancellor. But he blinked and the other person was gone, and the chancellor stood there with a smile on his face.


	16. descent

Obi-Wan met his padawan at the hangar, having just returned from another meeting with the chancellor. While Obi-Wan knew that he should be honored that his padawan was such a clear favorite of the chancellor, he couldn't help but shake a foreboding feeing about their relationship.

"How was your meeting with the chancellor?" Obi-Wan asked as Anakin approached.

"Fine." Anakin mumbled, not making eye contact. Obi-Wan sighed. He wasn't sure what was happening at these meetings, but he was sure that the fact that every time Anakin came back from one and was in a bad mood was a clear indicator that something was amiss between his relationship with the older man. Obi-Wan sighed.

"And is he well?" Obi-Wan asked as he walked along side Anakin on their way to the lifts.

"Yes." Anakin mumbled again, looking straight ahead. A tense moment of silence passes as the two of them approached the lift, and Obi-Wan pressed the button to hail it.

"Master, why don't you like politicians?" Anakin asked. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that I don't like politicians- it's that they are often serving their own self interests instead of those of the people." He crossed his arms over his chest. "They are also excellent liars."

"Do… do you think the chancellor has ever lied?" Anakin asked, looking up at Obi-Wan.

"The chancellor, is a politician Anakin." Obi-Wan replied. The doors opened and they both stepped inside.

"Do you think the chancellor has ever lied?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin after the doors closed. There was another moment of silence, and Obi-Wan watched as Anakin frowned, deep in thought.

"Yes," Anakin said hesitantly. "I think so." He muttered.

"And why do you think that, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked, curious to hear about what someone who appeared so close to the chancellor would say about him. Especially a child.

"It's… hard to figure out why." Anakin replied slowly. "But the force feels different around the chancellor. I can't… I don't understand why though." He huffed and crossed his arms. Obi-Wan stroked his beard, deep in thought about what Anakin had just revealed.

"Why don't you ask your friend about what to do?" At the word friend, Anakin looked up at his master with a very confused expression on his face that then morphed into one of understanding. Then he frowned,

"I dunno… I've only been able to reach him after I fall asleep." Anakin muttered.

"Well, have you ever tried to do it through meditation?" Obi-Wan asked. "Aside from that one time." He added on quickly.

"No…" Anakin replied. "But I'll try it." He said with determination. Obi-Wan remembered Master Yoda's words but then bit his tongue. He didn't even know that communication with the dead was possible- never mind that it would come so easily to a 13-year-old boy that he could do it in his sleep. They walked out of the lift and towards their apartment in silence, but the air around them was no longer tense. Obi-Wan could feel Anakin's determination to succeed in the force and was sure that his padawan would be able to accomplish his goal- even if he wasn't the biggest fan of meditation.

Anakin sat on his mediation pad and closed his eyes, sinking deeper and deeper into the force, like as if he were a rock in a vast ocean. Reaching further and further though the waves, the currents, drifting along, letting the water wash over him.

He opened his eyes and found himself standing in shallow water that lapped against his ankles in small waves. He looked up and grinned when he saw the same background as always, black, with white lines meeting at certain points. Anakin took a deep breath and looked around, searching for the giver. He heard a man speaking- the speech garbled and distorted from a distance. Anakin ran forward, expecting to see the giver, standing there in his tattered robes.

Instead he saw a hologram of the chancellor. Anakin stopped in his tracks, and slowly approached the hologram.

"You must help me."

"I cannot open it on my own, my boy."

"Don't you see? You have to help me!"

"Only you can help me."

Anakin watched the messages play over and over in a loop, as the chancellors face continued to look at him, an expression of deep sorrow on his face. Now that he was close enough to reach the hologram, he slowly reached an arm out, and the chancellors face began to glitch- the message becoming more and more garbled as he got closer and closer…

Until it reached out and grabbed him. Anakin screamed in horror as the hologram grabbed him, ugly and cracked nails digging into his skin, drawing blood as it tried to pull him in. He tried to form words- something, anything, but they were caught in his throat as the fear began to consume him. He began to cry and sob, trying his best to pry his arm away from the beat that the chancellor's image had turned into. Eyes that burned like the fires of hell stared into his soul; his features so disfigured that he could hardly recognize the man that claimed to be his friend.

Suddenly, a bright green flash passed by his shoulder, and the chancellor was gone, the holodisc sliced into two pieces, that were still smoking. Anakin stumbled backwards, clutching his injured hand to his chest.

"What was that?" He yelled, horrified. The Giver turned to face him, his hood hiding his face. Anakin looked, and saw the hilt of his lightsaber in his mechanical hand, the fingers tightly gripping it.

"The chancellor is not the man that he says he is." The Giver replied sternly. "Do not trust him."

"What… what do you mean?" He replied.

"He is a dangerous man. You cannot allow him to have access to this place, no matter what."

"Why not?" Anakin asked, trying to stand on his own. The giver reached out his flesh hand, and Anakin was surprised to find that it was as warm as it was when he gripped it.

"He is a liar, and a dangerous man." Anakin snorted.

"You sound like Obi-Wan."

"And you should listen to your master." The giver replied. Anakin frowned.

"What is the truth? Why is the chancellor so dangerous?" Anakin asked.

"You are not ready for the truth, Anakin Skywalker." The Giver said.

"What?" Anakin exclaimed "That's not fair!"

"No, it is not." The Giver said. "But your behavior has shown me that you are not ready, you cannot handle the truth just yet." Anakin opened and closed his mouth again, furious at The Giver's response.

"Calm yourself, you'll only hurt yourself even further like this." The Giver said after a moment of silence. Anakin looked down at what The Giver was looking at and watched as drops of blood flowed from his arm and hit the water below. The Giver silently approached and placed his flesh hand on Anakin's arm. He touched it, and Anakin gasped at the warmth that flowed through his arm. He watched as the blood stopped flowing freely. The Giver gasped and stepped away from his arm, and Anakin could hear him panting.

"That… is a serious injury." He said after a moment. "Usually, I could do more to fix it but…" He trailed off, lost in thought.

"If you want to learn the truth, there is still a lot more training that you will have to do, Anakin Skywalker." The Giver whispered.

"What kind of training? I practice my saber techniques almost every day!" Anakin exclaimed. The Giver chucked, but Anakin could feel his exhaustion regardless.

"Not that kind of training. You have to learn how to train your mind." Before Anakin could ask more about what that meant, his eyes snapped open and he was suddenly back in his quarters, sitting on his meditation cushion, and his arm was wet for some reason…

Anakin looked down at screamed, looking at his arm in horror. He looked up as Obi-Wan ran into the room, and quickly made his way over to Anakin, not even trying to hide his worry.

"Anakin!" He exclaimed as he kneeled and gently touched Anakin's arm with his hands, alarmed at the amount of blood that was coming from his wounds, and covered his clothes.

"What… what happened?" Obi-Wan asked. He looked back up at Anakin, who now was silently crying. And although he said nothing, Obi-Wan could feel the bone chilling fear radiating off of his padawan.

"I think… that we should talk to Master Yoda about this. But first, let's get you to the healers. Do you think you can walk?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin nodded and stood, but when he swayed on his feet, Obi-Wan quickly caught him before he could fall.

"Here, you can lean on me." Obi-Wan said as he held an arm out. Anakin took it wordlessly, but Obi-Wan could feel the way his body trembled. But he wasn't sure If that was because of the fear, blood loss, or both.


	17. wise men

"Wished to speak to me, you did." Yoda said as he watched Obi-Wan enter his quarters. Obi-Wan sat down on a meditation chair, across from Yoda. He tried to calm himself down and focused on watching the water pass over the singing stones that Master Yoda kept in his room.

"Something bothering you, there is." Yoda said as he looked at Obi-Wan. He sighed.

"Yes, master." Obi-Wan confirmed. "Is it… is it possible for the dead to be reached? Through the force I mean." Obi-Wan asked quickly.

"No, impossible that is." Yoda replied, his voice stern. "Become one with the force, they do." Obi-Wan hesitated. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Who was he to tell the grand master of the jedi order that the knowledge that he had been passing down for hundreds of years was wrong? That a child was able to reach those who had died and had done it in his sleep no less.

"Something you wish to say, there is?" Yoda asked. Obi-Wan sighed.

"Master, with all due respect, I don't think that's true." He quickly stammered. "Anakin has been able ot reach Master Qui-Gon, through meditation and while he's sleeping." Yoda raised both eyebrows.

"And he seems to be doing it fairly regularly."

"Impossible that is." Yoda replied. "Perhaps…" He trailed off.

"Perhaps?" Obi-Wan prompted.

"Perhaps, right you master was, about Padawan Skywalker." Yoda said.

"That… he is the chosen one?" Obi-Wan asked. Yoda nodded.

"Unsure, the council was of Skywalker abilities. Powerful he is in the force, but imagine, we did not, this kind of power."

"Well… there's more, master." Obi-Wan said with a small smile. He wasn't sure if he should be proud or horrified, but he was not surprised that Anakin had managed to impress the council at such a young age. His heart hurt when he thought about how Anakin screamed for him earlier, his arm covered in blood. The wounds so deep that by the time he had made it to the healers, he was barley awake, despite everyone's efforts. Obi-wan sighed.

"Anakin has shown me this place, where he goes to speak to Master Qui-Gon. It's unlike anywhere else I've ever been."

"Describe this place, you will." Yoda demanded.

"The force feels so different. So raw. It's not clouded with anything, like how it is here. And it was so quiet. This place is dark, with water on the floor. White lines glow and intersect at different points. This is where he showed me Qui-Gon." Yoda was silent for a moment before responding.

"Talk to your old master, did you?" Obi-Wan nodded.

"Where Skywalker meets this other jedi, this is?" Yoda asked. Obi-Wan nodded again.

"Yes, although he was not there when Anakin brought me to show him Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan said.

"So, another dead jedi, he is?" Yoda asked. Obi-Wan shrugged.

"I would assume so." He responded.

"And your padawan, where is he?" Yoda asked. Obi-Wan's hands curled into fists. This was the part that he was both eager to share but dreading to say out loud.

"In the halls of healing." Obi-Wan responded quietly. "Something… something attacked him in that place." Yoda frowned.

"Something? Know anything about this, do you?" He asked.

"Nothing. I suggested to Anakin that he reach out to the jedi he had been talking to through meditation. About 30 minutes later I heard him scream in pain and his arm was covered in blood and claw marks. I tried to get as much information out of him as I could, but the wounds were deep, and he was losing a lot of blood…" Obi-Wan trailed off.

"Protect young Skywalker, we must." Yoda said, his voice firm. "Speak to Master Windu at once, we shall. Tell him of what happened, you will."

* * *

Several minutes, later, Mace Windu sat with them, listening to Obi-Wan as he retold the story.

"Were you able to speak to your padawan once he was more aware of his surroundings?" Mace Windu asked.

"Yes, but he was acting very strange. I told him that the chancellor had recently sent him a message requesting that he stop by for another visit, and Anakin panicked." Obi-Wan took a deep breath before continuing. "I've never seen him react like that before." Mace Windu frowned.

"Why does the chancellor keep insisting to speak with Skywalker? What could he want with a boy as young as him?" He asked.

"And what would cause Anakin to act that way at someone who has been mentoring him?" Obi-Wan added on.

"Perhaps." Yoda said. "Not who we think he is, the chancellor is."


	18. A Child

"But why would someone so much older care about this one boy?" Mace questioned as they continued to discuss the situation. "Why Skywalker?"

"Unsure I am, of the chancellor's true intentions." Yoda said, looking at him. Mace sighed.

"I fear that the chancellor is trying to get something out of this- he wants something and is trying to use Padawan Skywalker as a way to get it."

"What makes you say that?" Obi-Wan whispered in shock.

"When the chancellor first approached me about wanting to get to know your padawan better, I initially refused his request. I told him that the wellbeing of our children was an internal affair. The chancellor did not like that as an answer, and he decided to… assert his authority over us as the head of the republic." Mace replied darkly.

"I think…" Obi-Wan began tentatively. "I think that you're right. When Anakin went to meet with the chancellor one time, he came back late, and his clothes reeked of smoke and alcohol."

"Now, why would an esteemed politician travel to what seemed to be the underworld of Coruscant?" Mace asked. They both looked at Yoda.

"Allow Young Skywalker to see the chancellor unsupervised, we should not." Yoda said firmly. "Unclear the force is, around the chancellor. Unsure of his intentions, I am."

Obi-Wan sighed. "We should also ask Anakin what he thinks of all of this, and what happened that one night he was out so late."

"And we should also ask him about what he usually does when he sees the chancellor." Mace added on. "I suspect foul play."

"But Anakin is just a child!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "He just reached 13 standard years of age!"

"Exactly." Mace replied, his voice grim as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Which is why it is important we ask your padawan about what is going on."

"Speak to Padawan Skywalker immediately, you must." Yoda said. Obi-Wan nodded and quickly exited his quarters, trying not to let his thoughts about how his failure as Anakin's master got them in this mess in the first place.

He reached the halls of healing and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to let such negative emotions cloud his judgement- especially when he had to be there for Anakin, who needed the support. He walked through the doors, and through the halls towards the room that Anakin was in. The door opened silently, and on the bed was Anakin- who looked exhausted. He blinked up slowly and looked at Obi-Wan.

"Master?" He whispered; his voice soft. Obi-Wan tried to not let the way Anakin looked at him hurt too much. He could see in his eyes that Anakin trusted him completely, and here he was,failing him.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan greeted as he tried to smile softly. He rested a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." He mumbled.

"Then why don't you get some rest; we can speak later." But Anakin shook his head, and Obi-Wan noticed the sudden fear that came from him.

"I can't sleep." He whispered.

"Why not? You look like you need it." But Anakin shook his head again.

"If I sleep, then I'll dream." He said, his eyes starting to water. "And I'm… I can't." His voice cracked. Obi-Wan sighed and knew that he had to get to the bottom of this.

"Are you afraid of whatever hurt you?" Obi-Wan asked gently. Anakin nodded.

"And what, or who hurt you?" Obi-Wan pressed. Anakin shrugged sheepishly, but Obi-Wan knew immediately that it was a lie.

"Anakin."

"The chancellor." He mumbled into his pillow. Obi-Wan inhaled sharply, trying not to have Anakin pick up on too much of his fear, but he knew that it probably didn't work.

"Well… it looked like the chancellor at first, but then it changed and I'm not really sure what it was." Anakin added on once he saw Obi-Wan's reaction. "It could have been a trick."

"Right. A trick." Obi-Wan deadpanned.

"But the chancellor is nice to me!" Anakin replied. "He wouldn't…" Anakin trailed off.

"Wouldn't what, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin shook his head. Obi-Wan sighed.

"The other jedi… he helped me." Anakin whispered after a tense moment of silence. He locked eyes with Obi-Wan.

"Well… maybe you should try and reach out to him again?" Obi-Wan suggested.

"But the last time I did that, this happened!" Anakin exclaimed, gesturing at his bandaged arm.

"I know Anakin, and I wish that I could offer you more guidance. But even Master Yoda is unsure of what this power means, and where you are going. Which is why I am asking you to be careful."

"I'm trying." Anakin muttered, looking away. Obi-Wan could tell that he expected to be nagged, or even lectured.

"I know." Obi-Wan said as he gently squeezed Anakin's shoulder. "And I believe you." Anakin looked at him and smiled, and that's when Obi-Wan swore that he would get to the bottom of this, no matter what it took.

After all, Anakin was just a boy.

"Why don't you get some rest." He suggested. To his surprise, Anakin didn't try and argue this time, but instead settled further down into his bed and closed his eyes. Obi-Wan watched as his young padawan slowly started to fall asleep and then got up to leave, but was pulled back by someone grabbing on to his hand.

"Stay?" Anakin asked softly, his voice muffled by the blankets. And Obi-Wan couldn't say no.

"Well, it looks like it healed pretty nicely so far." The Giver said as he inspected Anakin's arm. Anakin tried not to wince as the cold metal touched his flesh, but he couldn't help it. He also couldn't help but flinch every time he heard anything at all while he stood in front of The Giver.

"There's no need to be so jumpy, he can't reach you here." The Giver said as he looked at Anakin.

"How do you know that? How do I know you're not him? Or whatever that thing was?" Anakin questioned. He watched as The Giver slowly reached up and removed his hood. Anakin gasped softly.

"You're… you're a human?" Anakin whispered.

"Well, what did you think I was?" The Giver asked with a small smile. Anakin shrugged. He had never seen anyone with eyes that were as blue, or as intense as The Giver's. Never felt anyone in the force that was so powerful, but so calm at the same time.

"And you're… kinda old." Anakin added on after a moment. The Giver laughed.

"And what makes you say that?"

"Well… you've got grey hair, and wrinkles." Anakin noted.

"That doesn't mean I'm old. You have no idea what my age is." The Giver retorted. Anakin laughed.

"Well, I know you're not a baby, that's for sure." The Giver smiled, and gently held Anakin's arm with his mechanical one. He brought the flesh one up to touch his skin, and Anakin watched, amazed as the bandages slowly unraveled themselves. And as the flesh began to close itself, until nothing was left except for a few pale lines in his skin.

"Whoa." Anakin whispered in shock. He looked up at The Giver, eager. "You have to show me how to do that!" The Giver chuckled.

"Healing someone else requires for you to give up a little bit of yourself. But you must make sure that you don't give too much, otherwise…" He trailed off.

"You'll die?" Anakin whispered. The Giver nodded.

"Is that what happened to you?" The Giver's expression changed, and the water rippled around him. Anakin could see scenes of battle fields in the waves and hear the shouts and screams of people as they died over the blaster fire.

"Something like that." He replied softly.


	19. War Part I

**come yell with me about star wars on tumblr sonderwalker**  
**thank you simpskywalker for beta reading!**

**chapter 20 will be coming out later today so please check back here periodically to see if it has updated!  
**

Obi-Wan sat at the table in their kitchen across from Anakin, who was currently engrossed with whatever he was reading on his datapad. He watched as the steam rose from his cup of tea and sighed, wondering how to approach Anakin with the difficult questions that the Council had asked. A small, bitter voice told him that maybe if he had been a better master, they wouldn't be having this problem. Obi-Wan tried not to listen to it.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said. Anakin looked up from what he was reading.

"When you are alone with the chancellor…" "What do you do together?" Anakin set his datapad down and thought. He had been released from the halls of healing a few days ago, and Obi-Wan had noted how Anakin hadn't mentioned the chancellor at all, and in return, the chancellor had not asked about Anakin either.

"We… talk," Anakin replied slowly.

"About what?" Obi-Wan pressed. Anakin shrugged and looked away.

"Stuff," He looked back, noting that Obi-Wan didn't look impressed by his response. "The Republic," he said, looking back at Obi-Wan.

"Oh? Anything in particular about the Republic?" Anakin shrugged again.

"Not really," he said. Obi-Wan frowned. Why would such an esteemed politician like Palpatine want to talk to a young boy about the inner workings of the Republic? The more he thought about it, the more Master Windu's words made sense.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "Anakin," he began, his voice softer. "Does the Chancellor hurt you in any kind of way when you are with him?" Anakin shook his head and instead opted to play with the buttons on his datapad.

"He just talks to me," Anakin replied softly.

"What about that one night when you came home late?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin shrugged again.

"He talked to me."

"Anakin, your clothes smelled of smoke and alcohol. I know you two did more than just talking." Obi-Wan replied, crossing his arms over his chest. Anakin's reluctance to admit what he was actually doing with the chancellor was… quite concerning.

"He took me…" Anakin trailed off and Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "He took me to a bar," he whispered.

"And what did you do there? Did he give you anything to drink?"

"We talked. I didn't drink anything!" Anakin exclaimed. While Obi-Wan could tell that Anakin was telling him the truth, the whole idea of taking a young boy down to the lower levels to "talk" was already suspicious enough for him.

"Anakin, the council doesn't want you to see the chancellor anymore. At least, not unsupervised." Obi-Wan watched as Anakin opened his mouth and then closed it again. He wished that he could have a better idea of what Anakin was thinking. Anakin was already so strong in the Force that he could shield himself so well, that, if he wanted to, you wouldn't even know that he was there. Obi-Wan suspected that trait of his was a product of his past, but he didn't think Anakin wanted to talk about it either way.

"Well, what do you think about that?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I dunno," Anakin said with a shrug.

* * *

Later that day, Obi-Wan went to speak to Master Windu again, leaving Anakin alone in their apartment. Anakin sat in his room, tinkering with a cleaning droid that he had found earlier in the halls, when a sudden breeze blew through the room.

He sat up, checking to make sure that he had closed his window. He had. He turned slowly, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

"Giver?" Anakin whispered in surprise. There by his bed stood the Jedi that he spoke to in his dreams. Only now, his hood was down again, and he was inspecting a ship model Anakin had by his bedside.

"I haven't seen this model before," The Giver said. "What kind of ship is it?"

"How are you here?" Anakin asked, dumbfounded. "You… you only show up in my dreams! How can you…"

"Be real?" The Giver finished. "Just because you were dreaming, doesn't mean that it wasn't real," he said with a wink. Anakin realized that his mouth was still open and quickly closed it.

"So, do you want to tell me about this ship?" The Giver asked, holding up the model.

"It's a Republic cruiser," Anakin began slowly. "They're mostly used to transport aid and goods throughout the Republic." The Giver frowned and turned the model slowly in his hands.

"It doesn't look like it has a lot of weapons," he muttered, inspecting the hull of the ship.

"Why would it have lots of weapons? It's mostly used for transportation." The Giver didn't look at him.

"In my time, most of the cruisers were used for war. But they looked like this."

"War? What war?" Anakin asked. The Giver set the model down on the table and looked at Anakin. Another breeze blew through the room, ruffling The Giver's robes. Anakin caught a glimpse of the hilt of his saber and realized that it looked very familiar.

"Is this the war you were showing me? In that other place?" Anakin asked. The Giver nodded.

"We aren't soldiers. We're Jedi," The Giver said. "Would you want to go to war?' The Giver asked him. Anakin didn't respond. His door opened.

"Anakin, who were you talking to?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin turned around, ready to point at The Giver, but he was gone.


	20. War Part II

**I am very excited about this chapter and I hope you all really like it!**

Anakin never learned what had happened between the Council and the Chancellor. He noticed, though, that whenever he was asked to see the Chancellor, Obi-Wan was always with him. Obi-Wan was with him a lot, now that he thought about it. Ever since that one incident… or, rather, series of incidents.

He didn't tell Obi-Wan about seeing The Giver again after that ordeal had ended. Or about talking to Qui-Gon.

It was like his own little secret. He always had a friend, someone who would listen to him, even about the silliest things, like how Obi-Wan tried to deny the fact that he was the one who kept eating all of the sweets in their apartment. The Giver had been surprised by that fact, especially with how frequently it seemed to happen.

Overall, things seemed to be okay. Until they weren't.

* * *

"What do I do?" Anakin asked, as he sat down on his bed. "Each time I see her, she's crying out for help. I can't just leave her there!" He looked at the window, where The Giver stood, watching the speeders pass by.

"Well, that's stopping you from saving her?" The Giver asked. Anakin sighed.

"Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments. They always have told me that I need to let my mother go."

The Giver turned around to face Anakin, a peculiar expression on his face. Anakin had never seen him look so annoyed before.

"Do the other Jedi remember their mothers?" The Giver asked. Anakin shook his head. The Giver sighed, and walked over to Anakin, sitting on the bed with him.

"The Council isn't right about everything," The Giver said softly.

"But you're a Jedi too! Don't you have to listen to the Council as well?" Anakin asked.

"The Council was dead by the time I became a Jedi," he replied while shrugging. His eyes were intense, like two small blue flames. Anakin blinked.

"Remember what I told you about what happened? The war? The Jedi?" The Giver asked. Anakin nodded.

"You have to learn how to make your own decisions. You can't just follow orders all the time."

"I don't," Anakin muttered. The Giver smiled.

"I know."

Anakin was surprised at how little The Giver knew about the Separatists. Whenever he tried to ask for more information, The Giver told him he didn't know. Tensions were high on Coruscant and in the Senate. Many people were expecting war to break out soon.

"Isn't this the war you were talking about?" Anakin asked one night. The Giver's robes rippled with the waves of the water, and Anakin felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"No," he whispered. He waved his hand, showing Anakin large space battles, soldiers in white armor raiding bases.. But it was the last scene that The Giver showed him that made Anakin regret asking.

There stood a Sith Lord with a masked face. His breathing reverberated around them, causing the water to ripple and lap at his ankles with each breath.

"Your destiny lies with me, Skywalker," a robotic voice said.

"Who was that?" Anakin asked, horrified. "What was that?"

"Oh, he is human, trust me," The Giver replied with a sad smile. Then his face fell.

"This war is just the beginning," The Giver whispered after a moment of silence.

"Do you want to go to war?" he asked Anakin.

* * *

Anakin took The Giver's advice to heart. At least, he thought he did. He had disobeyed orders and gone to Tatooine regardless of what Obi-Wan had said. He looked to his right and saw Padme, who tried to smile at him. A small part of him appreciated the effort but couldn't break through the larger part of him that was consumed by the anxiety about his mother. Another part of him tried to reason that technically, he was still following orders—Padme was still at his side, and they were both unharmed. He didn't think Obi-Wan would buy that, though. He had gone with her to Naboo, as instructed. And it was her idea to leave. She cited that technically, wherever she went, he had to follow. So he did. Although, he did have to admit that he probably would have followed Padme, regardless of what his orders were, if she asked.

"Revenge is not the Jedi way." Anakin heard The Giver's voice surround him like the sands of Tatooine. He lowered his saber, grabbed his mother's body, and ran towards his speeder. He had felt the call to the dark, the desire to cut down and slaughter the tuskens that had taken his mother and killed her. But in that dark moment, The Giver gave him advice and courage, whispering for him to be strong, to be able to let go. And it hurt his soul, to feel everything so deeply, as if he were at war with himself. So, he ran, thinking about how The Giver had asked him if he wanted to go to war.

And when he buried her body, The Giver stood by the entrance to the farm, watching as the sun set behind the horizon. Everyone else walked away, but Anakin stepped forward, shrugging Padme's hand off his shoulder as he went and stood next to The Giver.

"Do you remember what I told you about this sunset?' The Giver asked, not looking away.

"You told me that there was no other sunset like it in the galaxy," Anakin replied, his voice rough from crying.

"I meant it." The Giver said. Anakin watched as something changed in his face, like as if a dark shadow had been cast. But Anakin blinked and it was gone.

"Do you want to go to war?" The Giver asked him again, watching as the first sun dipped below the horizon.

"No," Anakin whispered.

"Then you must learn to let go."

Anakin heard footsteps from behind him and turned around.

"Ani, who were you talking to?" Padme asked, the light of the sunset catching in her curls.

_"Do you want to go to war?" _The voice of The Giver echoed in Anakin's mind as they raced to capture Count Dooku in the gunship. Only then, when he was facing Dooku alone, did Anakin really begin to consider the cost of losing. Before, everything had been so simple, and while he yearned for more, this wasn't what he had meant.

* * *

He thought about that conversation now, while he was standing on the bridge of his cruiser, the same ship model that The Giver had told him had been used for war. At the time, Anakin hadn't believed him. But now, as he watched his men move around, preparing for their next battle, he wished that he had listened back then. Now he realized that he didn't want to go to war. But the war had come to him.

"Prepare to jump to hyperspace," Anakin commanded.

"Sir, yes sir!"


	21. Right Hand Man

**TW for assult on a minor. nothing explicit, but it is brought up**  
**yes, this chapter name is a pun. and don't worry, we aren't done learning about padawan anakin's story. the rest will be told through various flashbacks. **  
**there will also be flashbacks of a young anakin with a young ahsoka as wel**l.

Anakin walked out of the hangar and towards his quarters in the temple. Behind him, more of his men left the gunship to head towards their temporary stations and posts while they were here on Coruscant. Other men stayed on to be taken to their barracks. The hangar bustled with life and a sense of urgency. Clone troopers and other Jedi rushed past him in different directions, but Anakin had now gotten used to all the commotion. His feet carried him towards his room, his mind wandering to other places.

He opened the door and jumped back slightly in surprise before walking into the common room.

"Master Windu." He said as he nodded his head. "What are you doing here?"

"I am waiting for Obi-Wan, and then we will be departing for a council meeting." The jedi master responded, his voice as cool as ever. That wasn't the first time he had been in this situation. No, long ago- or what now felt like long ago, Anakin remembered walking into the common room to find the jedi master sitting there.

And just like in the past, Obi-Wan appeared shortly, giving Anakin a small smile before nodding to Mace as they left the room. He held his breath, and let it go when the door shut, thinking about what had happened the last time.

* * *

_"Padawan Skywalker, we'd like to talk to you about the Chancellor." Mace began, his voice softer than usual. Anakin remembered his palms being sweaty, and he curled his hands into fists to stop himself from fighting. He couldn't help it though, as he began to bite his lip. _

_"What about the Chancellor?" He had asked trying to make his tone as even as possible. _

_"Where did he take you that one night?" Obi-Wan questioned. Anakin didn't respond right away. _

_"Anakin," He sighed. "I know that you weren't telling me the truth that one night." He looked away, his face burning with embarrassment. _

_"The Secrecy of the Chancellor and his… whereabouts with you are concerning." Mace said. _

_"Realize this, do you, young Skywalker?" Master Yoda asked. But Anakin shook his head. He didn't know. He didn't know what was happening now, or why they had brought him here. Originally, he had thought that it was because of The Giver, and all of the things that he had seen. But they didn't seem to care about that at all. _

_Earlier in the day, when Obi-Wan had told him that the council didn't want him talking to the Chancellor on his own, he had been confused. But now, as Mace and Yoda questioned him about whether the Chancellor had ever hurt him, touched him, or done things that he shouldn't have… all he could think about was the hologram. The claws digging into his skin. The cold, dark, empty feeling that had surrounded him until the light of The Giver's saber had shone through. _

_Just thinking about it made him choke up. So, he said nothing, and the council had feared the worst. Obi-Wan watched and spoke to him as if he were a piece of glass about to shatter. Over time, that had faded away too. But the feeling of the Dark hadn't. It came to him when he was alone and whispered in his ear. Promising him sweet nothings, just like how The Giver warned him that it would. _

* * *

Anakin blinked a few times and sighed. He knew that if Ahsoka or Obi-Wan had seen him, they'd nag him for focusing on everything but the present. Or if Master Yoda were around, he'd whack him with his cane and tell him to focus on what was happening in front of him, not what was happening on the horizon. He smiled at the thought of a younger version of The Giver being told the same thing. He passed through the common room on the way to his quarters and looked out the window. The sun was beginning to set behind the large buildings, and Ahsoka would be returning soon from her mission with Master Plo. He began to get undressed, removing the outer layers of his tunic, and then stared at his gloves. First, he slowly removed the left one, revealing a calloused hand. And then the right, revealing a newly-added prosthetic. Anakin clenched and unclenched his prosthetic hand. He held it out in front of him, admiring the metal work. But he looked past that and saw another metal hand pressed against his, as if it were a reflection. He jumped back and ignited his saber.

"Who are you?" He demanded." The figure,dressed in all black robes, tilted its head, the fabric of the hood swaying slightly to one side. Anakin looked down and saw a lightsaber strapped to its belt and realized that it looked just like the one that The Giver had.

"Where did you get that saber?" He demanded. But the figure didn't answer his question.

"Skywalker." He whispered, holding out his right hand.

His prosthetic right hand. The fingers slowly uncurled, and Anakin lowered his saber, appreciating the metalworking of the hand. It looked more advanced than anything he had ever seen before.

The door to his quarters opened, and Anakin quickly turned around.

"Skyguy?" Ahsoka asked, clearly worried. "Are you alright?" Anakin nodded and deactivated his saber.

"Yeah." He sighed. "Yeah, I'm alright." She slowly walked into the room, looking around and saw something on his desk that made her smile.

"Is that what Rex looks like when he's not frowning all the time?" She asked, as she held up a sketch of Rex he had done. Anakin rolled his eyes.

"Well, maybe if someone listened to orders more often, then you'd get to see him smile more often."

"Hey!" Ahsoka exclaimed, crossing her hands over her chest. "You don't listen to orders either!"

Anakin shrugged. "Well, when you become a Jedi Knight, you won't always have to listen to orders either." Ahsoka rolled her eyes and walked away. Once the door had shut, Anakin felt the smile fade from his face as he tried to recollect more of what had happened. There was a strange, nagging feeling that something was right.

* * *

_"The council has closed their investigation on the Chancellor." Obi-Wan had told him one morning over dinner. _

_"Why?" Anakin asked as he sipped on his tea. _

_"They didn't find evidence of any wrongdoing." Obi-Wan took a sip of his tea and continued. "Regardless, Anakin, the council doesn't want you to see the Chancellor anymore. At least, not unsupervised." Anakin clenched his jaw and nodded. He knew that there was something wrong. Something wasn't quite right. _

"If you keep focusing on the past, you'll never be able to focus on the present." The Giver said from behind.

"You sound like Obi-Wan." Anakin groaned, covering his eyes with one hand. The Giver laughed.


	22. Into Darkness

Anakin sat on the couch in their common room, watching as the rain poured outside. Although the weather on Coruscant was controlled, that didn't stop cold and dreary days from occurring during the weather cycle. Something about keeping the atmosphere balanced.

He didn't pay that much attention anyway. To his right, Ahsoka sighed, placing her chin on his shoulder.

"Looks like our plans to meditate in the garden have been shot." She mumbled.

"Looks like it." Anakin replied, watching as two raindrops raced towards each other, blending into one.

"Did you ever see rain on Tatoone, Master?" Ahsoka asked.

"Never. The first time I saw a rainstorm, I was ten years old." Anakin replied softly, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He remembered it well.

_"Master!" Anakin called out, rushing into the common room. "Look outside!"_

_"At the rain?" Obi-Wan asked, turning from the kitchen to look out of the window in the common room. _

_"That's so much water." Anakin whispered, walking up to the glass and pressing his face against it, but quickly backing away, wrinkling his nose. _

_"It's cold." _

_"Well, you didn't expect it to be warm, did you?" Obi-Wan asked, walking over towards him. Anakin felt his face heat up and looked away. _

_"Maybe." He muttered. A sudden clap of thunder startled both of them, causing Anakin to jump, his eyes wide. _

_"What was that?" Anakin asked, quickly stepping away from the window. Obi-Wan reached out and placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder. _

_"It was just thunder, no need to worry." Obi-Wan replied, his tone reassuring as he smiled down at Anakin. _

_"Thunder?" Anakin asked, looking up at him. "What's thunder?" _

_"Thunder is the sound from lightening." Obi-Wan began. "And because light travels faster than sound- " _

_"Then the sound shows up after the light." Anakin finished. _

_"That's right, padawan." _

"What was it like?" Ahsoka asked. "To grow up in a desert?" Anakin sighed.

"Harsh. The desert is harsh." Anakin replied softly. "And all it does is takes."

"You remember crossing the Dune Sea with me to give Jabba his son, you know what it's like." Anakin said.

"Yeah, but I didn't think that all of the planet was like that." Ahsoka replied. "Even the cities?"

"Even the cities." Anakin confirmed. The door to the apartment them, but neither of them turned, knowing who had just walked in regardless.

"Do you intend to spend the whole day in here?" Obi-Wan asked as he took off his cloak.

"Well, we were gonna go to the gardens together!" Ahsoka began lifting her head off of Anakin's shoulder so that she could turn to face Obi-Wan.

"I see." Obi-Wan replied, coming over to sit next to them.

"And have you thought of anything to do instead?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Nope." Anakin said, popping the 'p' as he turned to look at Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

"Got any suggestions, old man?" Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

And this was why Anakin found himself walking through the temple library thirty minutes later. Obi-Wan had told him that it would be good for him to get back into reading. Told him to work on something that wasn't a droid, his starfighter, or reading over yet another report from the war. And so now, Anakin found himself surrounded with bookshelves that were full of holobooks, stretching as far as he could see.

No one else was around. He turned and looked in multiple directions- noticing that his wandering through the shelves had led him towards a section of the library that was empty. But he could still hear the distant buzz of life that was ever present in the temple. Only now, it was muted. He turned back to look at the holobooks on the shelves. Their glow was dimmer than the other ones he had been looking at earlier- a sign of their age. He skimmed over the titles, not particularly interested in any of them. How he found himself back here was a mystery to him. He had no interest in which flowers could be used to brew which teas.

"Leaving so soon, Anakin?" A voice asked. Anakin's shoulders slumped, and he stayed rooted to the spot.

"You aren't real." He said, eyes looking at the floor.

"Am I not?" The voice asked. "We haven't spoken in a while."

"Because you're dead." Anakin said, his voice hollow. "And the dead become one with the force."

"You know that isn't true." The voice said, and suddenly, Qui-Gon was standing in front of him. He looked the same as he always did- the beige robes, his hair pulled back. Only this time, Anakin could see through him, like as if he were a holo of himself. But that wasn't true, as Anakin could feel that in the force, he was right next to him. He grit his teeth.

_"So, should I just forget that this happened?" Anakin asked. Mace and Yoda looked at each other. _

_"Perhaps 'forget' is too strong of a word." Mace replied. _

_"But I'm not supposed to speak about it." Anakin said. _

_"And I'm not supposed to go back… back there." He said, still at a loss for how to describe the other place. _

_"Correct, this is." Yoda replied, his voice soft but stern. "For your own safety this is." _

_Anakin wanted to object, but given that the last time he had gone, his arm had been injured, he closed his mouth and bowed his head. _

_"Yes, Masters." _

"Look at how tall you've become." He noted. "And I see you now have a padawan of your own as well." Anakin looked away from the floor and up at him.

"I am always watching. I know that the council told you to forget about me." He said, as he moved towards Anakin's side.

"But do you think the council was right?" Qui-Gon asked. Anakin shrugged.

"I don't know." He replied softly. "They tell me that I can do things that others can't. They tell me that I can see things that others don't. But when I try to use these powers- "

"They tell you to be quiet." Qui-Gon guessed, tilting his head slightly. Anakin nodded.

"But I can't help it." He whispered, his voice cracking. "I can see you, master, even though Master Yoda says you aren't here with me. I can feel you, in the force."

"Is this why you haven't come to visit sooner?" Qui-Gon asked. "It has been years, and I cannot reach you the same way that- that The Giver can."

"But you're here with me, right now!" Anakin exclaimed. He looked up and around at the holobooks.

"Do you like floral teas?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "The best ones come from the rarest flowers." He said before his image faded away.

Anakin blinked and looked around. He was alone again, with only the holobooks keeping him company.

After that, Anakin found himself wandering through the temple, no destination in mind as he let both his mind and feet wander. While he moved through the halls, his mind moved through his thoughts, trying to piece together why now, after so long, was Qui-Gon and The Giver deciding to reach out more often? Why now, were they make appearances in the library, in his bedroom, and not just staying in his dreams? Why now, were they warning him about something dark, something strange, and when he asked for more information, The Giver told him he wasn't ready.

But what was he waiting for? Anakin sighed and ran a gloved hand through his hair. There was something that he was missing. But he didn't even know where to begin to look. His memories of that other place- the world between worlds was dull. But, as he continued to walk through the halls, weaving in and out of the columns- why was the chancellor there? He had only seen Jedi there before.

And the chancellor was not a Jedi. But he had been there, and Anakin had watched as the face of the chancellor melted away into something that came from his nightmares.

That twisted face, those yellow eyes, they haunted him at times when he closed his eyes to sleep. In the background, never close enough to touch, but close enough that they could always be seen. And Anakin, had always been too afraid to reach out. Too afraid of the dark as a child, heeding his master's warnings.

But now he wondered, what would happen if he did?

Anakin stopped walking and scrunched his nose. It felt wet. He brought a hand up to his face and wiped at it.

There was blood.

"I thought you just washed that cloak." Obi-Wan noted as he watched Anakin give it to the cleaning droid. He shrugged.

"It got dirty again." Anakin replied.

"How? You only went to the library and back. You hate the cold, so I doubt you went outside."

"I had a nosebleed." Anakin replied softly after a moment, watching the cleaning droid leave.

"It's been a while since you've had one of those." Obi-Wan replied after another moment, looking back at Anakin.

"Has something changed?"


	23. The Night

He tried not to think about it. He tried to bury himself in the work that he was doing on his star fighter. He tried to bury himself with the tasks on board of the ship. There were more of them now that they had lost so many men. He tried to distract himself with training Ahsoka, but she was also distracted with everything that happened.

Obi-Wan was on the other side of the galaxy. In many ways, he was alone. The force was growing stranger and stranger each day. He was sure that Ahsoka could feel it- sure in the way that she seemed to be more nervous than she was when she was first assigned to him. But the force was growing harder and harder to read.

It wasn't like anything Anakin had experienced before.

Before, Master Yoda told him to keep his powers quiet. Let them fade. Don't go back to that place. The dead are one with the force.

But Obi-Wan hadn't done the same. And while he hadn't encouraged Anakin, he didn't stop him either. And When Anakin told him that Qui-Gon had spoken to him for the first time in years, he was expecting to be reprimanded. Expecting to be nagged, and maybe have Master Yoda and Windu join in as well. But instead, Obi-Wan's response was careful, cautious, and calculated.

He asked how Qui-Gon was. What he had said.

And now, as Anakin stared up in the hangar, watching the stars in the vast emptiness of space, he wondered if Qui-Gon could even find him out here- deep in the outer rim.

He felt a familiar presence brush. It seemed that the answer to that question was yes.

But that wasn't the only familiar presence he felt. As Anakin opened himself up to the force- and tried to ignore how strange it felt, he noticed that something was wrong.

He was sensing something that wasn't there- or someone that wasn't there before. But they were here now.

Anakin quickly spun around, looking for the troops- the men he had sensed. The men that he thought he had lost. Ahead he saw them, joking and laughing with each other. They were sitting on several boxes that were by the same bomber jets that they had flown in.

He slowly approached. Looking around- the hangar seemed to be mostly empty aside from him, and the men in front of him. The ship was on its night cycle, so only the skeleton crew was working now. He wanted to call out, but he held his tongue. Instead, he slowly continued to walk towards them, reaching out both with his arm and in the force. They were there. He was feeling their presences. He was looking at their faces. But when he finally got within arm's reach, he reached out, trying to place a hand on one of their shoulders. Ask how they got here. Ask if they were alright.

His hand went through the shoulders of his men. They vanished into thin air right in front of his eyes.

And Anakin sank to his knees, curling his hands into tight fists to stop them from trembling.

Their presences were gone. And he was alone.

* * *

Later, Anakin found himself back in his quarters. He had turned the lights out a while ago in a vain attempt to fall asleep. He had brushed off the encounter on him needing more rest- something that Obi-Wan seemed to nag him about all the time. He blamed it on him being so worked up about the war- another thing that Obi-Wan nagged him about as well. He sighed.

It seemed like Obi-Wan nagged him a lot.

Anakin ran a hand over his face, resisting the urge to check the time. He knew that he needed to rest. But his mind wouldn't leave him alone. The force felt even more raw- stranger than it had before. It was whispering things at him. He couldn't make them out- the warnings and cries and songs and screams all seemed to blur together into an unintelligible mess.

He wanted to ask someone for help. But he felt trapped- who did he know that would help him with this?

"You only have to ask." A familiar voice whispered, louder than the rest of the noise from the force.

"I can't." Anakin whispered back, keeping his eyes closed.

"And why not?" The voice responded. "I'm right here in front of you."

Anakin opened his eyes, and the familiar presence of The Giver lit up the room, his body shrouded in that same pale blue glow.

"How did you get here?" Anakin asked. The Giver shrugged.

"You aren't that hard to find." He responded. "But harder now than before."

"What do you mean?" Anakin replied, sitting up in his bed.

"The force is changing; can you feel it?" The Giver asked him. Anakin nodded.

"What… why is it changing?"

"It's the beginning of the end." The Giver whispered to him. "The sith grow more and more powerful each day."

"But we're fighting the sith right now!" Anakin exclaimed. He sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"How powerful can they be?" He whispered, his voice cracking. The Giver leaned forward.

"They already control everything." He took a step forward and sat next to Anakin on his bed. Anakin looked down at his belt and noticed that something was different than before.

"That… that's my saber!" He exclaimed, and then looked over at his desk, calling his saber towards him.

The Giver nodded. "It is. He picked it up with his prosthetic hand.

"Take off your gloves," He said. Anakin silently took off his gloves as well, and they were both holding the same saber in their mechanical hand. They both held their hands out, and The Giver began to chuckle before removing his hood again. Blue eyes stared back at him, with grey jedi robes and shaggy grey hair.

"You and I aren't so different, Anakin." The Giver told him with a small smile. Anakin looked back at him.

"I guess not."

They lowered their hands at the same time.

"How… how did you get my saber?" Anakin asked him. The Giver sighed.

"Obi-Wan gave it to me." The Giver replied, his voice soft and sad.

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked. "Why did Obi-Wan have my saber? And why did he give it to you?" The Giver sighed.

"Do you want to know the truth from a certain point of view?" He asked Anakin, who shook his head. The Giver laughed.

"I thought not. You and I really do have a lot in common. Obi-Wan gave me your saber because he thought that you were dead- and he wanted me to have it one day."

"Why?" Anakin whispered, horrified. But despite the fear, his curiosity pushed him to know more- and he did his best to annoy the rising anger at Obi-Wan handing his saber off to someone without asking first.

The Giver's eyes darkened.

"You betrayed him. Left him with no choice." Anakin shot up from his bed.

"I did no such thing!" He replied, his voice and body shaking. The Giver looked up at him calmly.

"Not yet, you haven't." Anakin's shoulders slumped again, and he took a step back.

"What?" He asked.

"It hasn't happened yet." The Giver responded and gestured at the space next to him.

"Sit down."

Anakin sat down, and grabbed his saber again, inspecting it once more.

"I'm here to stop it from happening." The Giver said. He sighed.

"Before, I thought you were too young to know the full truth- it's what Obi-Wan told me when I was your age as well. Before, I thought that you couldn't handle it. And I didn't want what happened… what happened where I came from to happen here. To happen to you."

"Well," Anakin began. "What happened to you?"

But The Giver shook his head.

"No. It's what happens to you, is what I am worried about." He replied. "When I asked Obi-Wan the same kinds of questions, he would always give me the same kinds of warnings. 'Luke you mustn't' or 'Luke you must listen.'." They both rolled his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure he does that with everyone." Anakin replied while sighing. And then he straightened back up.

"Wait, your name's Luke?" He asked. "I thought that you didn't want me to know your name."

"That was before. We don't have any more time." Luke replied.

"Anymore time?" Anakin asked. "Because of the sith?"

Luke nodded. "They control everything. The war is a scam, it's meant to distract you from what's really happening."

"Then what's really happening?" Anakin demanded. They looked at each other, and Anakin saw something shift in Luke's eyes.

"The sith lord that you're looking for, is the chancellor of the republic." He replied. But before Anakin could retort, could voice his objection, Luke waved his hand.

And they were back in the same place that they had first met.

"Master Yoda told me not to come back here." Anakin said, looking down at waiting for the water to ripple like how it usually did.

It didn't.

"Master Yoda dosen't know the truth. Right now, it's just you." Luke responded. Before him, the scenes changed, and he saw the Chancellor pull up that same hood that he had worn when he had taken him down to the underworld all those years ago. But now, he wasn't going to the underworld, he was talking to Dooku. He was inspecting the clone army. He was inspecting the droid army. And Anakin felt a hopelessness unlike anything else he had ever experienced begin to swallow his heart. He felt hot tears stream down his face as he realized how much of what he believed had been a lie. He turned to face Luke, for once, at a loss for words of what to say to him.

"But I'll be here too. I always have been."

And Anakin nodded. He took a deep breath and reached for his saber at his side. But it wasn't there. But he looked up and Luke was handing it to him with his flesh hand this time. Anakin took it, and clipped it to his belt, looking down at the hilt.

"I guess you have always been there." He whispered. He looked back up at Luke.

"So now what?" He asked.

"Now, you begin your training." Luke replied with a small smile.

"Training?" Anakin asked, "What kind of training?"

"You won't be able to beat Sidious on your own." Luke replied. "None of us can."

"Then how are we supposed to stop him?" Anakin exclaimed.

"You'll need to learn to call on the Jedi before you for help. For guidance. You'll need to learn how to control more of the force- and not just the things that you can see. The things that you can't." Luke sighed, and smiled sadly.

"But most of all, you'll have to learn how to keep yourself in the light, even when things seem to be dark."

"I can do it." Anakin said with determination.

"I am sure that you will try." Luke responded. His eyes turned wistful, his gaze far away.

"My sister used to say that 'Hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you can see it, you'll never make it through the night.'." He turned to look at Anakin.

"The sun is setting on the republic. Are you ready to begin?"

"I am." Anakin replied, a familiar spark in his eyes. But when he blinked, he suddenly found himself back in his quarters, Ahsoka shaking his shoulder.

Anakin quickly sat up with a gasp, his hands flying to his belt. His saber was there. And not on the desk where he had left it when he fell asleep. The lights were now on in his quarters, and he squinted against the sudden change in brightness. His head hurt, but it wasn't anything that was unusual for him, especially after a night of little to no sleep.

"Master!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "You're finally awake! Master Obi-Wan has been waiting to talk to you." Anakin blinked and rubbed his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts.

"What?" He asked.

"He wants a status report, Skyguy, and you slept through all of our comm messages." Ahsoka replied while rolling her eyes.

"I did?" He asked, noticing that his comm was also on his desk. He quickly leapt up, calling both his saber and his comlink to his hand.

"Let's go before I really upset him." He said, rushing out the door as he clipped his saber to his belt.

The weight was different than it was before. But it was familiar, and the gentle and encouraging presence made him smile, even if Obi-Wan was about to nag him again.


End file.
